When Memories Fade
by LavenderSwirl
Summary: It started with a demon that had the ability to erase memories and rewind time, and then all of a sudden Kagome was flying. Or at least she was, until she started falling. Next thing she knew, she was in a cave surrounded by ferocious wolf demons; kidnapped and labelled as some sort of jewel-shard-detector-slave. Thing is, sometimes it really does matter who you meet first. KouxKag
1. Chapter 1

**When Memories Fade  
**

 **Hi! Thank you very much for clicking on my story, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it! It began as a small and simple idea that popped into my head, that for some reason really appealed to me and made me want to turn it into a story. Mostly because it got Inuyasha and the rest of them out of the way and really let me focus on the relationship between Kouga and Kagome. Don't get me wrong, Sango and Miroku and etc. are fine, but they get in the way and they're not wanted here. At least not for a while...**

 **Before we dive in to the actual story, I wanted to note a few things that I thought are important in regards to it:**

 **Firstly, this is my first story! I would love to hear what you think about it so please review if you'd like to :) I will reply to every review via private message!**

 **Also, I will try and keep the essence of the characters alive, but to be brutally honest I find Kagome as a character annoying, and so I'll probably end up deviating slightly from the way that she is protrayed in the manga/anime. Also, that school uniform g2g. Like, ok, so you're travelling 500 years in the past and you're likely to be climbing up mountains and shit and walking A LOT, and your outfit of choice is your damn school uniform that has the shortest skirt in the entire world? I just don't understand. If you're going to wear a short skirt 500 years in the past, it wouldn't be your school uniform, I mean really. This is not to say that in this story Kagome won't be wearing short skirts, she might do, it just won't be her school uniform skirt is all. Also, let's be honest, when you're 500 years in the past and fighting demons, you're probably just gonna go for jeans.**

 **Also, I used to watch Inuyasha when I was younger and I loved it. I still love it, but I don't want to re-watch every episode so my story may deviate slightly from the the events in the official story, but to the best of my abilities I'll try to stop that from happening.**

 **ALSO ALSO, I will try to upload one chapter per week, but it may end up being once every two weeks. I'll do my absolute best to upload at least once a month.**

 **And finally, I am from England. Seems unrelated but if I get any American/etc. readers, I just wanted to point out that I may spell things differently from what you're used to! I only point this out because I have far too much hubris for my own good and since spelling is kinda my forte it would physically pain me to get loads of reviews saying how I've spelt things incorrectly...because that's how you spell them in England, I promise :3**

 **Anyway, enough yabbering on. Here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

To most, it would seem obvious to exercise at least a modicum of caution when racing to confront a demon with not only mind control capabilities but who also was in possession of a shard of the Shikon no Tama. To most, charging at said demon with no regard for the consequences _or_ for its aforementioned abilities would not be a viable option. Inuyasha was not like most people.

The demon itself appeared both physically and emotionally weak; it stood at a mere four feet tall, quivering and whimpering, hiding a featureless face behind long, thin hands. The demon's entire being was matte-black, with rubber-like skin that was tightly stretched to cover sinew and bone. The only discernible feature on its face was that of pale yellow and pupil-less eyes, shining ominously from two large holes in its face. The creature could be described as no less than pathetic, which was rather deceptive for an oncoming foe ready to do battle. In the middle of its forehead laid a jewel shard, yet even knowledge of the creature's possession of such a powerful object could not make it appear any less pitiful. It was common knowledge that this type of demon possessed some rudimentary mind control capabilities and – Kagome had earlier noted with a shudder of trepidation – it was fabled that it had the ability to rewind time.

Inuyasha was not deterred. Without even so much as considering any other strategies, he charged at the demon and brought his sword down upon its oval-shaped head. With a screech that was as piercing as a whistle, it narrowly managed to avoid the assault. This dance continued for no longer than a minute, however the demon was clearly beginning to show signs of fatigue. Kagome attempted to call out to Inuyasha, to cajole him and to urge him not to be so rash with his attacks or his method of acquiring the demon's jewel shard; but of course it was to no avail. She shuddered again. It was fabled, she recalled, that when this type of demon was backed so far into a corner that it felt it had no other option, it would use its limited powers to rewind time and attempt to erase the mind of its attacker in order to help ensure that there would not be any further attempts at its life. However, this type of demon was not a particularly strong demon and it often failed to do so, rewinding time only by mere seconds – and at the most days – sometimes in the process using so much of its power that it would inadvertently bring about its own demise.

The dark, featureless creature panted heavily as Inuyasha brought his sword down upon its head one final time. It opened its mouth once more as if to scream, but this time no noise could be heard. The only sound that was audible was an intense and shrill ringing which seemed to emanate from inside Kagome's own head. It reverberated off of the walls of her skull, bringing her to her knees, mouth twisted into a distorted howl of agony. She tried to look around, to see if her friends were affected too, to try and help them and protect them from such an indescribable pain, but Kagome found that she no longer tell if her eyes were even open or if they were closed. All she could see was a blinding white light, which wrapped her entire in its oddly comforting embrace.

'Looks can be deceiving', she thought absent-mindedly as noted how her entire body was tingling with the warming sensation of the light. 'I guess the Shikon no Tama really did make it stronger…'

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Falling. Or was it flying? She opened her eyes and felt weightless. She soared through the sky, the land stretching before her. She wanted to laugh.

She spread out her arms as if they were wings and willed them to take her further across the terrain spread out so bare and beautiful beneath her body. She wanted to fly into the horizon and never look back.

However, in that moment, she began to drop.

She was no longer weightless and she began to register the uncomfortable pressure that was pushing against her stomach, as well as the sting of hair whipping into her face and the sound of terrified screaming. A sound that was coming from her.

'WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP AND STOP SCREAMING!' A voice below her boomed. Her stomach lurched sickeningly as she realised that they were going to hit the side of a mountain: with force. She was going to break every bone in her body, and then she was going to plummet to her death. And it was going to hurt.

Her head whipped backwards as, rather than greeting the side of the mountain with her face, the man below her (the man carrying her), used his feet to bring them to a grinding halt. Momentarily he paused, perched on the side of the mountain, to shoot her a look of annoyance and disdain. Kagome closed her mouth abruptly. She had not realised that she was still screaming.

Kagome. That was her name. She remembered that suddenly, though she couldn't recall having forgotten it in the first place. She was Kagome Higurashi. She was from the future, having fallen down a mystical well that impossibly transported her five hundred years into the past. She was a reincarnation of the priestess Kikyou, and she held the Shikon no Tama in her body until it was – rather rudely she remembered with a huff – ripped out by a kind of centipede-demon-thing. She broke the jewel, and she had vowed to piece it back together. And now she was here. Images flicked through her mind. It seemed that her ability to see Shikon jewel had attracted some rather untoward attention.

'Kouga…'

That was his name. The name of the man – or rather the demon – who was carrying her now. He had seen her ability to sense the shards first-hand when he was attacking…her? No, that didn't seem quite right. He hadn't been attacking _her_ specifically…but then who? She shook her head. That wasn't important right now. She needed to understand what was happening in this current moment, and quickly.

He had kidnapped her. The thought popped into her mind and settled as if it had always been there. For what purpose though? To kill her? To eat her? To kill and eat her? It seemed implausible that he would go through all of that effort to specifically kidnap her just because he was hungry. Was it because of her ability vis-à-vis the jewel shards then? So far, it was the most likely conclusion that she could come to.

Kouga - the wolf demon who was currently gripping onto her like a vice - screeched to a halt. It was only now that they were stationary that Kagome could feel the heavy pounding of her heart slamming against her ribcage. Swallowing the thick lump that had manifested itself within her throat, Kagome opened her mouth tentatively to speak. It was a saving grace that she was abruptly prevented from speaking by the presence of Kouga's lingering gaze meeting hers, as she realised that she had no idea what she was going to say.

'Typical Kagome,' she thought somewhat harshly, 'always trying to speak without thinking first.'

Kouga's gaze was intense. His eyes seared into hers, yet his expression was strangely guarded. She searched his face for any hint as to his intentions; did he hate her? Was he disgusted by her being a human (an unflattering consequence of living in the past that she was not at all fond of), or perhaps he was just hungry? There was no telling, no way for her to break through his impenetrable mask. Her inability to guess his intentions brought unpredictability, and unpredictability brought anxiety.

'Human,' Kouga began flatly. It was evident that he intended to continue, his mouth opened once more, poised to begin speaking.

'Hi.' Kagome squeaked almost instinctually. It was unintentional certainly, however Kagome had inherited the rather awkward trait from her mother which made her incapable of refraining from speaking whenever she was nervous. Kouga looked surprised now, his mask slipping slightly. It appeared that he was shocked that anyone – especially a human – would even answer him in this situation, let alone interrupt him when he was about to speak again.

'My name is Kagome.' She stated obtusely, blinking dumbly. She willed herself to be quiet, her face heating from both fear and embarrassment. Kouga was still looking at her, meeting her gaze, but now his face had darkened.

'I don't care what your name is. I brought you here for one reason, and one reason only. You see those bird-demons up there?' He turned his face skyward, gesticulating with one hand to the ominously circling birds above that Kagome was astonished to admit she had only just noticed. 'Those are the Birds of Paradise. One of them possesses a jewel shard, and you're going to help me take it from them.'

She opened her mouth once more. To agree, to protest, to cry, to scream, she didn't know; but before even a syllable could leave her mouth Kouga lurched forward, propelling the two of them at such speed that Kagome clamped her mouth shut involuntarily, biting her tongue and drawing blood. She considered squealing or making any noise to reflect the pain, but Kouga's face was stern now and she thought it best not to bait an angry wolf.

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Ruthless. Heartless. Callous. Brutal. Murderer. These were all words that had been used to describe Kouga at some point, and God knows there were many more. None of them particularly mattered to Kouga, and in fact at times he relished in these titles. They gave him infamy, standing amongst his pack and most importantly they ensured that his mere name struck fear into the hearts of the rival wolf packs and his enemies. He led the girl that he had grasped tightly by the arm through the back of the entrance cave, uninterested by her grimaces of pain. His grip on her arm was probably hurting her. He didn't care.

The girl was of some use to him for now, but he could not stand humans and would not tolerate any of her human sensibilities or protests. She would do as he commanded, or she would suffer; and after he was done with her, she would die. Those of his pack who were present in this part of the caves crowded around her now, salivating and gnashing long, pointy teeth. It wouldn't be the first time that Kouga had brought a human or two back for his pack to eat and it wouldn't be the last, but currently, this human was off-limits…for now.

Some of his pack approached her; he made threats of violence. If she were killed before he was through with her, he would be sure to send whoever was responsible into the afterlife as well. He spared a brief moment to look at the human woman before him. She was small, and currently dishevelled. Her hair was thick and long and rolled down to her mid-lower back in tussled waves, dark and inky like the blackest of nights. Her eyes were brown and reproachful. Her skin was creamy and pale, with a pink tint that coloured her cheeks. She was beautiful he supposed, and for a brief second he even felt himself catch his breath at the sight of her, but then he remembered what she was and what _he_ was, and all he felt was a detached sense of disgust and superiority. Humans were like insects to him – annoying, and easy to kill.

He turned then, and he left. His people were still hungry, and he had to provide for them. He didn't spare a single thought for the girl once he was gone, as long as she was still alive and able to speak when he got back to her, he didn't particularly care what his pack did to her while he was away.

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To be honest, for the most part the pack had left Kagome alone. Kouga had not been explicit in his instructions for the girl other than 'don't eat her', and none of the wolves wanted to overstep their boundaries with her and end up being killed or worse, though there were a few whispers, a few lewd comments, and more than a few suggestions that she would make an exceptionally tasty meal. Despite this, Kagome knew that for now she was 'safe'. Her suspicions had been confirmed – Kouga needed her to seek out jewel shards for him, and so for now at least she was fairly confident that she wouldn't befall any permanent harm. Kagome huddled against the wall at the back of the cave, desperately trying to put as much distance between herself and the wolf demons as possible; just because she didn't think that she was in any danger right now, it didn't mean that she trusted any of them.

She sifted through her memories, though her mind was sluggish and hazy. She had met Kouga at a village that was enshrouded in pain and death. Was she alone? That sentiment felt wrong, but she could not remember having any other companions. Kouga attacked…her...because…she...had killed some of his wolves? Again, the memory seemed wrong somehow, incomplete, yet every time she tried to delve into the recesses of her mind she would feel a sharp sting in her head, behind her eyes, and this was enough to deter her for now. She knew what she needed to in this current moment; she could figure the rest out when she wasn't in danger of being literally murdered at any second.

As she glumly contemplated her predicament, one overwhelming thought enshrouded her mind:

'Escape. I need to escape.' She repeated this mantra over and over again, and in brief seconds it became almost an obsession that suffocated her with the gravity of her need to be free. She was feverish now, and began assessing the countless ways she potentially leave this place and its discarded human remains, its scent of death and blood. All scenarios she considered did not seem viable, and her overactive imagination unhelpfully ended each attempted escape with increasingly gruesome deaths.

Consumed by her fervor, Kagome ended up taking the 'fuck it' approach and ran.

'This was not a good idea.' She cursed internally not two seconds after initiating her 'plan'. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea that for some reason she thought would be a good one. Of course, it was not. She supposed it was another of the unendingly unhelpful traits that she had acquired from her mother: the inability to think before she acted. She was wrapped – no, crushed – in the arms of one of the larger wolf demons before she had even made it halfway to the waterfall that cascaded over the entrance to the cave, the waterfall that was the embodiment of her freedom.

'And where the hell do you think _you're_ going, woman?' The demon that held her demanded.

'I know Kouga said not to eat her, but is she really worth the trouble of keeping her alive?' Another questioned.

'I say let's just kill her, no matter what use Kouga thinks she can be to us, she's a human and she's good for nothing else other than food.' She turned to look at this demon. He was young, with short, dazzling blue hair that spiked upwards, and his eyes were hard.

'Well, I wouldn't say that that's the _only_ thing she's good for.' Another wolf joked lasciviously. Kagome didn't spare a glance for this one. In all honesty she couldn't, the thought of looking into his eyes and seeing real intent was so abhorrent to her that even just hearing the words were enough to make her queasy.

Then, like Moses parting the Dead Sea, Kouga returned. The waterfall separated; almost as if it made the conscious decision to part _for_ him rather than _because of_ him as he entered the cave. He was wet now and carried a large, dead boar over his shoulder as he surveyed the scene quietly. She looked to him pleadingly, for in that moment he was her only saviour.

Behind him were two other demons; one with impossibly white hair that stood to attention in the form of a Mohawk, and the other with hair that was silvery-grey except for a lone tuft of coal-black hair that grew in the front-centre of his head. And here Kagome had thought that a guy having blue hair was strange. How does one manage to achieve a Mohawk in a time when hair gel hadn't even been invented yet?

'What is the meaning of this?' Kouga asked calmly, coolly.

The tension in the air was palpable. Kagome felt the demon behind her loosen his grip and she used the opportunity to slip out of his hold. She began to run towards Kouga, but stopped halfway when she realised that he wasn't her saviour, not really. He was the one who had brought her here, it was under his command that she remained here, and it was evident by the hushed fear in the air that he was stronger than every demon that resided here. He could crush her at any time he wanted; he was certainly not a friend, and certainly not a saviour.

A gulp, followed by an apprehensive voice. 'She started running Kouga. All we did was stop her. We didn't know what to do since she went against your orders, we didn't know if we should punish her is all. Why do you even want her alive anyway? She's a human.'

Kouga turned his head slowly, looking at nobody, but at the same time meeting the gazes of everybody.

'This woman,' he began, not raising his voice above speaking-volume. 'Can see the sacred jewel shards. With her here, not only will we defeat the Birds of Paradise, but I will also use her to collect every jewel shard for miles around, and then our pack will be unstoppable.' When he was finished speaking it was final. There was no room for debate or protestation. He commanded these people, and his word was law. The cave was silent.

'Woman.' He addressed Kagome specifically this time. 'Come with me.'

And with that Kagome felt yet again the unmistakeable pressure on her arm as he dragged her further into the caves.

 **Yay, first chapter complete! I really hope it was an entertaining read, and I already have the second chapter written so that will definitely be up next week! Also, next week's chapter is longer, so you have that to look forward to as well :p**

 **Please review or follow or favourite or whatever if you liked it ~ seeya next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**When Memories Fade - Chapter 2  
**

 **Well, I didn't realise there was a 'horizontal line' feature on the editor that this website has, so that makes my life easier instead of having to paste a million 'ooooo''s.**

 **Thank you so much to the people that followed, favourited and reviewed on the first chapter! It was so wonderful to get positive feedback and I'm glad that those who have read seem to be enjoying it so far! Just as a note for this chapter: I'm basing the timeline of this story off of the assumption that Kagome is 500 years in the past from 2016...so basically they're in the 16th century. I expected everyone to just be sleeping on like rocks and shit but nope, I researched it and the rich people actually had actual, literal beds...and so of course Kouga would sleep like a king ;) I've read a lot of stories where Kouga just sleeps on furs, but if they actually had beds in the 16th century then why not give the man a bed! Also, though I'll probably stick to giving OC's Japanese names, I'm keeping the setting of this story geographically neutral as I don't feel like I know enough about Japan (and especially medieval Japan) to write a story based there. In all likelihood, since I'm Western the story will have Western influences too.  
**

 **I got a couple of guest reviews that I can't reply to via PM so I'd like to take a moment to reply to here:**

 **Review #1**

 **Thank you so much! I agree that many stories jump straight in after the first chapter or so and Kouga suddenly goes from this dick who eats people and clearly has no regard for their lives to being super sweet...and to be honest that's basically what happens in the anime too, but it just isn't realistic to me and I love dark characters. If he does get softer as the story progresses, it definitely won't be soon...;) thanks again for your review and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Review #2**

 **So glad to hear that you think the story is well-written; that's important to me and it's encouraging to hear :) again, I agree with the whole evil-Kouga-thing! I'm glad that a lot of people including yourself seem to find it as strange that he suddenly does a complete turn around and loves humans like 2 seconds after he kidnaps (note *kidnaps*) Kagome! Part of the reason why I wanted to write this story is because I wanted to do a story that addressed the darker side of him! Also I'm with ya girl/guy, both Kagome AND Inuyasha get on my nerves with their bs. I think as a kid I used to like her too...now she _and_ her stupid school uniform just piss me off XD thanks again so much, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **And now...chapter 2!  
**

* * *

To most, it would seem obvious that when you have been kidnapped by a powerful wolf demon and are being dragged deep into the recesses of his caves – alone – that it would be wise to shut the hell up and do as you're told. To most, turning around and slapping said demon the moment he lets go of your arm would be the _opposite_ of a wise thing to do, and instead would be an obvious death sentence. Kagome Higurashi was not like most people.

But alas, here they were. She had slapped him, and now they both had to sit in it. Kouga surveyed her with cool eyes; he did not seem particularly perturbed by the slap, nor did he seem particularly angry, and Kagome couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. Seconds dragged on and turned into minutes as he simply stared at her, perusing her being with his eyes silently. She began to feel awkward now; the situation had turned embarrassing rather than terrifying.

'No one will disturb us here.' He finally spoke, meeting her eyes once again with his.

'Oh…good?' Kagome was at a loss of what to say. Even just being around Kouga put her on edge, as he was so calm and stoic that she could never tell what he was thinking or what he was feeling – or if he even had feelings at all.

More silence.

'If you raise your hand to me again, I will kill you.' Kouga stated matter-of-factly. He was not looking at her now, clearly finding the barren cave walls more interesting and indeed more worthy of his attention than her.

His words sent chills down her spine, as Kagome had no doubt that he meant it. His face was impassive and detached, but the lack of emotion only unnerved her more; it made her feel as though she was nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust to him…which, she supposed, she probably was.

'Oh…okay.' She felt she had to say something. She always felt she had to say something. Maybe it would be better if from now on if she just said nothing.

'I take it that you know why you are here.' It was a statement rather than a question. Kagome could feel his eyes on her again, but her own remained decidedly fixed on the floor below as she did not have the courage to meet his gaze once more. She opened her mouth to speak, but then remembered her own musings from mere moments ago and decided against it. This seemed to please Kouga, as a low chuckle rumbled from his chest and she glanced upwards briefly to see a smirk that was halfway to a smile don his handsome face. And it was handsome, his face she meant, but she was very much aware that the face staring down at her could be cruel and punishing just as easily as it could be handsome, and she would not be fooled by a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing.

'It's rather strange that you're quiet now, considering I couldn't get you to shut up on the way here.' His eyes danced with what Kagome thought looked like amusement. It gave her a renewed sense of bravery.

'I thought you would want me to be quiet.' She mumbled, not _quite_ brave enough to raise her voice to match his own.

'And you would be correct in thinking that.' Kagome flinched; his voice was harsh now. Trying to guess his intentions was exhausting task, as every time she thought she had figured him out his mood would change and she was left clueless yet again.

'Are you always this confusing?' She clamped her jaw shut quickly. Yet again, her mouth had spoken without the permission of her brain – she really would be lucky if she survived more than a day here. She couldn't deny however that she was curious; there was something about Kouga that intrigued her and she wanted to know more about him...evidently with no regard for any of the potential deadly consequences that would befall such curiosity.

Kouga was taken aback; this woman was a mystery to him. Usually humans all followed the same, predictable pattern. He took them, they cried, he threatened them, they shut up. With this woman however, none of his usual techniques worked - he had threatened her, and yet still she talked. He contemplated whether he should become physical with her, as he had no doubt that she would comply with his wishes then. He decided against this for now however, as he had a sometimes inconvenient habit of misjudging his own strength, and it would be rather troublesome for him if he accidentally broke her neck and she died. What use would she be of to him then?

'If I were you,' he had taken what seemed like an eternity to reply and his sudden admission startled her. Kouga could hear her heart thumping against her chest, like that of a cornered little rabbit trying to evade its death. 'I would spend less time thinking about me, and more time thinking about what _you're_ going to do to show me that you're actually useful enough to be worth keeping alive.'

Suddenly, abruptly, he turned on his heels and left her, alone in an empty cave with no idea how to get back to the entrance cave with the other demons, and no idea if she even wanted to get back there at all.

* * *

Kagome assumed that it had been hours since Kouga had left her here, but it was hard to tell since there were no windows - or anything at all really that could indicate the precise passage of time – but it felt like hours, and Kagome felt hungry.

What was correct human-slave protocol in this situation? Should she leave the spot that she had been glued to for the past however long and attempt to find something to eat? Surely if she was to be a jewel detector for him, Kouga wouldn't want her to be hungry, right? On the other hand, she couldn't really imagine that skipping into the heart of a pack of hungry wolves and demanding food would go down very favourably for her. Her only other alternative was to sit here and starve to death…and at that moment in time it seemed like a better outcome than facing Kouga again.

The demon in question was alone, sitting in his personal chambers and contemplating his next step. He had left the human with no idea where she was or how to get back to the only part of the caves that were familiar to her. He had spent the time in between then and now delivering the message to the rest of his pack who were not present to hear his initial warning that she was off-limits, however he still felt a sense of unease. The place where she was currently residing was remote enough that it was doubtful whether anyone would even stumble across her until morning, but what if he was wrong? What if someone dared to defy him and brought any kind of permanent or deadly harm upon the girl? That wouldn't do just yet, and though he would of course return the favour tenfold, by then the damage would have been done and all that would be left would be the corpse of a human who was once vaguely useful to him.

He considered alternatives.

The only option that genuinely ensured her safety was to move her to his own private chambers, as nobody was allowed in there without his permission…and the only person that had his permission was himself.

He inadvertently crinkled his nose in disgust. The thought of sharing his private space with a human, especially when he had never done so with anyone else, irritated him beyond belief. He did not like interacting with humans and despite her (at times) amusing inability to refrain from vocalising _everything_ , Kouga didn't have any particular desire to spend any more time with her than was necessary. He sighed and rubbed his hand along the tops of his thighs. There wasn't really any other option, and he would be damned if he let the effort that he had put into bringing her here and keeping her alive go to waste.

Still, rather than moving, he sighed glumly with contemplative uncertainty. On the surface of it, it seemed downright unbelievable that any of his pack would violate his orders, as everyone here knew the extent of Kouga's wrath. However, Kouga knew that it would be unwise to ignore their hatred for humans; it ran deep and it was thorny in nature. He would not be surprised if one of his pack killed her not out of defiance, but out of sheer loathing.

Kouga was strong, stronger than every other demon in his tribe, but it was his intelligence that had helped him to maintain his position as leader, and it was this that would make his pack thrive. Wolf demons were brash, it was in their nature and many found it difficult to separate emotion from logic, and any other member of his pack would have killed the girl on sight, regardless of her abilities. Wolf demons were creatures that first and foremost reacted on instinct, but Kouga was different in that he had managed – for the most part – to control his instincts; he listened to them, but he refused to be dominated by anything, not even himself. This is what allowed him to make smart decisions for the welfare of the pack, and it was also what kept the amount of uprisings and any attempts to de throne him to a minimum. Whether they liked it or not, his pack knew that there was nobody else that was capable of leading them quite like he was, and he would make sure that bringing this human into their home would not be a mistake.

It would be wrong to suggest however that he was completely confident with this choice, as even he had some misgivings. There was just something about that little human girl that set his teeth on edge and made his instincts difficult to ignore; he felt he had to be guarded around her, as if she was a threat to him somehow. It was a laughable thought, but it was a feeling that he nevertheless somehow couldn't shake. Perhaps he was overthinking things, but when it came down to it he trusted his instincts, after all they were what had kept him alive so far.

He sighed, and then he stood. Resolving himself, Kouga marched towards the exit of his room, vexation nuzzling at his heels scornfully as he walked, beginning to contemplate the very real possibility that that stupid girl had wandered off rather than staying obediently where he had placed her. With any other human, this would not be a concern to him. With this girl however, he had every reason _to_ be concerned.

* * *

More than hungry, Kagome was now starting to feel bored. She had seriously started to consider actually going into the heart of the wolf den, even if it did mean that they would kill her; at least that would give her something to do. She chuckled darkly at this, before heavy footsteps broke her out of her reverie.

Standing in front of her was Kouga, though rather than large and foreboding, he looked noticeably uncomfortable as he regarded her small form on the ground before him.

'Are…are you ok?' She asked tentatively, clearing her throat to allow herself more volume when she spoke. Kouga eyes widened, and then narrowed.

'Come with me.' He ignored her question when he spoke, and his tone was yet again forceful and intimidating. And annoying.

'No.' She rebutted, louder this time. The finality of her own voice surprised her; on the inside she was shaking. Kouga arched a single eyebrow, but did not vocalise his thoughts. His face had darkened, and that was really all that needed to be said. 'No' was clearly not an option here. She spoke again. 'I'm not coming with you.'

'Oh? And why is that?' Kouga's voice was low and threateningly even. He waited for her response.

'B-because-' She began to lose her nerve, but quickly regained it after remembering why she had taken a stand in the first place. She was pissed off. 'Because. You kidnap me, bring me here, parade me around in front of your 'pack' – who are all assholes might I add - you stick me here in this cave alone for _hours_ , you don't tell me anything other than 'I'm the jewel detector', and then you come back at _your_ leisure to yet again drag me off to God knows where without telling me a _single thing_. I've tried to be cooperative, I've tried to do what you've told me to do, now don't you think you at least owe me an explanation or _something_?' Her voice cracked at the end noticeably, a telltale sign that she was scared.

Instantly, Kouga's eyes flashed with anger.

'I owe you _nothing_.' he spat vehemently, his eyes burning holes into her startled face. 'I brought you here because I wanted to use your abilities to make my pack stronger, I don't care about you or about how you feel. Your only purpose is to do what I tell you, when I tell you. Do that and I might let you live. Disobey me again and I will ensure that you don't.'

'Really? Well in that case you might as well kill me now, because I can't see myself rolling over and just giving in to someone as repulsive as you. I am not a slave, and I am certainly not an object. My name is Kagome Higurashi, and yes I'm a human, but the fact that you're too stupid and too ignorant to get over your biases is not my concern!' By the end of her tirade, she had begun to scream her words at him as if trying to throw all of her worry, her fear and her embarrassment into him and out of herself. Her words bounced off of the cave walls shrilly as gasped for air, her body alight with the fire of rage. In that moment she had never been so angry with anybody in her entire life, and her words were not empty; she truly did not care if he killed her then and there. It would be a better fate than serving as Kouga's little lapdog anyway.

It was as though Kouga had regressed into a child at this point, he neither knew what words were, nor was he able to speak any. He just stared, looking deep into her eyes that seemed amber with fury; and she held his gaze. Not once did she look away, and he couldn't help but note with shock that he no longer saw fear in her eyes, only hatred.

'Well? Are you going to kill me, or should I save you the trouble and do it myself?' With that she bent down, deliberately picking up the sharpest rock she could find and motioned her hand down towards her wrist. She met Kouga's eyes again with her own, determined and without a single trace of fear.

If there was one thing that Kouga's childhood taught him, it was to never back down from a challenge. With that in mind he quickly regained his composure and shifted so that his weight rested on one side cockily as he folded his arms, and allowed a smirk to covet his lips greedily. He met Kagome's gaze lazily with heavy-lidded eyes and high eyebrows as if her actions were simultaneously amusing and boring to him. The woman was clearly more effort than she was worth, and if the silly girl slashed at her wrists until the cave floor ran scarlet with her blood, then it would be one less problem for him to deal with anyway.

This presented a problem for Kagome. In the spur of the moment she had decided upon an action that she had intended to be a purely symbolic act of defiance, an act which was meant to show Kouga that she was more than just a tool for him to use, and that she wouldn't be pushed around by him _or_ by his pack. She had expected him to stop her, perhaps to cry out with some kind of instinctual panic that would later lead to an epiphany of sorts that acknowledged that deep down, he was a compassionate creature. He would then apologise to her, begging – no – grovelling at her feet for him to forgive her as he realised the error of his ways. Instead, he stood unmoving with one eyebrow cocked devilishly in a fashion that dared her to try it.

Several seconds passed in silence and her confidence faltered. Kouga used the opportunity to step forward and calmly remove the rock from her hand, dropping it. They stood there, face-to-face, listening to the loud click as the rock grazed against the cave floor.

'Well,' He spoke amusedly, expression sarcastic and gloating. 'That was quite a show. Just a little tip for next time though – if you wanna get under my skin then 'killing' yourself-' his tone became insufferably arrogant, '-isn't the way to go about it. You'd just be doing me a favour rather than sending me a message since it would save me the hassle of having to kill you myself.' His voice lowered now, and he leant forward so that his face was mere inches from her own. 'And if you think for one second that your death would be anything more to me than an inconvenient puddle to clean, then you severely overestimate your own worth, girl.'

His words stung cruelly and unexpectedly, and Kagome suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to cry. Her emotions fluctuated rapidly from anger and determination to hurt and embarrassment in an instant and her bottom lip began to tremble, despite her best efforts to thwart its treacherous attempts at displaying her emotions so openly for such a heartless bastard to see. So much for grovelling, then.

'I'm not going to kill you.' Kouga spoke abruptly and his voice took on a softer tone. 'Yet.' A flash of severity. For once, Kagome had nothing to say. He straightened and drew himself up to his full height, then reconsidered, wondering if that would intimidate her further as he observed the sheen of tears that glazed her eyes and the tremble of her lip. Uncertain, he sat. It pained him to do this, but if he was going to commit to using this girl then clearly he needed to use different tactics. He tried to remove all traces of arrogance and indifference from his face; despite his bravado, it had not taken him long to realise that for now at least it was better if she stayed alive, and willing to help. He had already begun to reconsider keeping her around after the Birds of Paradise had been dealt with, as he did not like having to go out of his way to get a _human_ of all creatures to cooperate with him. But his pack needed this, needed _her_ to help him destroy those wretched birds once and for all, and he would not let his ego deprive them of such a victory. Perhaps once the battle was won however, it would be for the best if he solved this little problem with his fangs - and if he couldn't stomach the whole meal then his pack would certainly help him to finish the job.

'Just listen before you speak for once.' He shot an amused glance her way before straightening his face back into a placid mask of composure. 'There is a reason I brought you here – yes for the jewel shards in general, but also to help with a more pressing matter. The Birds of Paradise, the birds I showed you earlier,' he gesticulated to the roof of the cave as if it were the sky and the birds were circling the air above him. 'They are an enemy of this tribe. We cannot hunt, or even leave the cave without fear of being killed by these pathetic creatures. Until a short time ago, we dominated this land and the Birds of Paradise were of no match for us, however one of them appears to have acquired a jewel shard, and as a result the birds are attacking everyday now, stronger than before and trying to wipe us out for good. I brought you here because I need your help to find the jewel shard and take them down.

'As for when I came here to get you just now, I was planning on taking you to my chambers where nobody other than myself is allowed. That way at least I know for sure that none of my pack will murder you in your sleep or whatever.' He smiled coyly at that, looking up at her face, which shone with surprise and interest, and a little bit of fear. 'Now that I've given you the explanation that you wanted…will you help us?'

Kagome blinked as her tears began to dissipate. 'I…yes. Yes, I'll help you.' Her voice was hoarse with unshed emotion, but the burning lump in her throat had begun to cool some, and she found herself shocked at the very notion Kouga actually asking for her help at all. Well played Kouga, this round was most certainly yours.

'Good.' Kouga attempted a reassuring smile. Kagome just thought that it looked scary. 'Shall we?'

Slightly bewildered, and suddenly feeling very emotionally tired, Kagome nodded meekly and yet again began to follow Kouga into the depths of the endless caves that he commanded.

It was a victory well-earned for Kouga, though his triumph was not at all unexpected for him. He was never one to back down from a challenge after all, and he had yet to find a game that he could not win.

* * *

It was only now, as she lay sleeping on his bed (something which Kouga very much begrudged) that he allowed himself to look at her, to truly look at her. Her breathing was deep and calm, and her hair fell haphazardly over her face as she slept. Her cheeks were tinted rose; they seemed to be permanently stained that way. Her body was lithe and curved elegantly from head-to-toe, and Kouga spared her an appreciative glance before snorted dismissively. She was fine for a human, but she paled in comparison to any female wolf-demon – and she looked weak. Wanting to waste no more time on thoughts of human women, he decided to concentrate more on her strangely exotic garb.

Her legs were covered in a material that was of a light azure colour and that looked soft to touch. It hugged her legs tightly, finishing at least an inch or two above the ankle and extending upwards to her mid-torso. He frowned. It was strange that she should wear such a tight fitting garment, when even to him it was common knowledge that such attire would never be accepted in any human villages, and it was stranger still that the clothing resembled trousers as was custom for men to wear. In her village were women too allowed to wear such masculine clothes? He had to admit though that despite its masculine connotations, the garment looked very feminine on her legs, and he found himself wondering if perhaps she wore such form-fitting attire because she was prostitute. He very much doubted this however, as from what he had seen even human prostitutes wore skirts or dresses.

Her torso was covered in a layer of dusty pink fabric that was bunched up at her elbows. It was loose in comparison to that which was covering her legs and had strange fastenings that held it together, spreading down the centre of material until it met the fabric that covered her lower body and disappeared underneath. Near the top of what Kouga assumed was some kind of shirt, a few of the fastenings were undone, allowing full view of her delicate décolletage and the very top of her chest. On her feet were stark white shoes, which covered her appendages entirely in the strangest of shapes.

He watched her sleep for the longest time, finding a disagreeable peace in the way in which her chest would rise and fall.

* * *

When Kagome awoke, she was alone. It was dark in the room, save for a few candles that flickered benignly as they illuminated the stone walls around her softly. She only vaguely remembered entering this room, so overcome with mental and emotional exhaustion that at the first sight of a bed she collapsed upon it and was asleep in seconds. Hastily drawing herself into a seated position, Kagome examined the bed curiously. She had expected perhaps a stone slab, covered with hay as bedding and a cloth laid precariously over the top to alleviate some of the itching as she had become accustomed to in the small human villages that she had visited, but instead she found herself marvelling at a huge four poster bed with extravagant curtains that hung from a wooden canopy above her head. The curtains were decorated with champagne coloured patterns that twisted and weaved their way around the fabric gracefully, and when she touched the curtains, they felt soft like silk. Pulling up the top layers of the bedding in awe, Kagome ran her hands along the unmistakeable feeling of straw that made up the contents of the bed sheet that served as the bottom layer of bed sheets. On top of that were two layers of what Kagome assumed were feathers wrapped in cloth, to provide maximum comfort. The pillows also seemed to be made from feathers, and though she preferred the modern convenience of a firmer pillow, she could not help but admit that the bed was a delight to lay her weary body upon. The bed was indeed grand and regal and fit for a king, literally. She suddenly grew very doubtful that Kouga had acquired it via any savoury means.

'I hope you found _my_ bed to your liking,' Kouga began, voice emanating sardonically from some shadowed crevice of the room. Kagome jumped in startled surprise and whipped her head wildly around the room, finally pinpointing the origin of the voice through the darkness. She strained her still-adjusting eyes to see him, sitting rather agitatedly with one leg crossed over the other, with arms crossed and eyebrows crossed as well. Clearly Kouga was less than pleased with her impromptu commandeering of his bed. 'I stole it from a human once. A king or something apparently.' Ah. Kagome's suspicions were confirmed.

Kouga shifted slightly, almost imperceptibly as his agitation grew. 'I had intended for you to sleep on the floor, but you were asleep before I had even had the chance to speak a single word. I had to sleep in this chair.' She could hear the unmistakeable gritting of teeth in his voice. Clearly _someone_ was not a big sharer.

'Well…at least it looks comfortable.' Kagome smiled politely; the chair was indeed large and padded and more than optimal as an alternative to the bed. Rather than assuage however, her comment seemed to displease Kouga further.

'If it were any other time I would have thrown you off of the bed myself, however you're going to need all the strength you have today,' he stopped speaking for a moment to smile widely, lips withdrawing to reveal the glint of long, sharp teeth. 'Because today is the day that you're going to help me destroy the Birds of Paradise.'

'Wha-today?! But I haven't even _been_ here an entire day yet. Shouldn't we like, discuss strategies or something at least?' Kagome squeaked, horrified. Was she ready for this? She had barely begun contemplating her escape from this place and already he wanted her to go and fight some creepy-looking birds to the death?

'Ok then, let's disucss. Here's the plan: you detect the jewel shard, I kill the bird _with_ the jewel shard and take it for myself, then me and my pack kill every last one of those damn birds while you hide in a corner trying not to get killed yourself.' Kouga stated matter-of-factly. Clearly there was no room for argument.

'But-but-' Kagome started nervously, desperately trying to think of anything that she could say that would delay him from taking on the birds today. She did not like her odds of survival if the only plan to ensure her safety consisted of 'hiding in a corner and trying not to get killed'.

'No. My pack are ready, and for your sake I hope you are too, because if you screw this up for me then you will have a far deadlier enemy than the Birds of Paradise to contend with, and unlike them I won't just eat you. I'll make it _hurt_.' It was only after Kouga had left the room, with instructions that he would return with food that Kagome realised that she was holding her breath, and she released it with a shaky exhale. She had to find a way to get out of this place.

* * *

Shivering in the abrasive cold, Kagome looked around at the fruits of what was at least partially her labour. The air was pregnant with the stench of blood, and the land below her feet drank the fluid thirstily as if it were nourishing rain falling from the heavens. There were corpses littered across the battlefield, motionless on the ground, leaning precariously over the sides of the cliffs, and even at her feet. Beside her was the mangled carcass of a wolf demon; he was young, and his eyes were open. Kagome fought the urge to heave as she turned her own eyes skyward to avoid his vacant stare. Technically the wolf pack had been victorious, but Kagome failed to see how this much death could possibly be classed as a triumph.

The 'plan' had been successful in the sense that Kagome had managed to hide sufficiently enough that she hadn't perished during the course of the battle. She tried not to dwell on the events that had unfolded, but every time she closed her eyes she couldn't help but feel the biting wind on her face as Kouga propelled them upwards, barking orders to his men beneath then and commanding that she find the shard. Once she had found it, fighting the bird had not been particularly easy, especially as the other Birds of Paradise were all too eager to sacrifice their lives to Kouga's unyielding claws for the sake of their leader.

It took Kouga less than seconds to realise the Birds of Paradise's battle strategy, and in a moment of what Kagome unconvincingly wanted to believe was genuine concern, Kouga left her in the care of his two second-in-commands – Hakkaku and Ginta. Suffice to say, neither were particularly thrilled with the prospect of having to look after a human, and the several gashes to Kagome's arms and shoulders demonstrated their lack of commitment to the task. They did, however, thaw slightly when Kagome – seeing that Ginta had been taken by one of the birds – frantically searched for a discarded bow and arrow before using her miko powers to cleave off one of the offending bird's wings, effectively saving Ginta's life. It fell to the ground and she watched it as it twitched.

Kouga's men fought bravely, even Kagome had to admit that, doing all that they could to lure the Birds of Paradise away from Kouga and towards them. They were brutal in their movements, and not particularly skilled. They attacked with sheer strength, they did not plan and they did not aim, they merely fought – and to Kagome's astonishment they were winning. There were of course losses, but the Birds of Paradise had no chance against the wolves, which was all the more surprising considering that their foes _did_ plan ahead. All of their attacks were synchronised and they seemed to only move with purpose, whereas the wolves' ferocious onslaught appeared to be nothing more than a random and chaotic barrage of death.

In the end, the bird with the shard bit into Kouga's arm, tearing into his flesh with its oversized teeth and relinquishing him of his jewel shard with force. In return, Kouga ripped out the bird's jugular.

Both Kagome and the pack's eyes were on Kouga now, watching him as he searched around on the floor beneath for a few moments before raising a hand. There were two jewel shards grasped tightly between his tan fingers. He placed one back into his injured right arm nonchalantly before allowing the other to take residence in the uninjured left one.

Kagome had expected some kind of rousing battle speech that spoke of honour, and of victory. Instead, after the uproarious cries and cheers of the demons subsided, he turned to look at her from atop the tall, rocky mountain and, staring straight into her eyes stated:

'Well then. I guess this calls for a feast.'

* * *

 **And it's done! Hope everyone liked this chapter - I kind of tried to get through the stuff we've already seen in the anime/manga so I can get straight on to more original content. That will all be coming in the next chapter, so see you all next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**When Memories Fade – Chapter 3**

 **Surprisingly, I actually don't have much to say before we start this chapter other than I am making a concerted effort to try and lengthen my chapters. It's difficult to tell how long they're going to appear when uploaded since I write 10 pages and when I actually post the chapter it looks like I've hardly written anything! This chapter is longer by a few thousand words so hopefully it's a satisfactory length!**

 **Also, thank you so much to everyone that has reviewed so far, I've had a lot of lovely feedback and I'm glad that people seem to be enjoying the story :) enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

Kagome revelled in her luck, greatly relieved that all of her internal organs were still safely tucked inside of her body, nestled together in a timid cluster. She surveyed what she could only describe as the 'dining cave' with a sense of unease; it had transpired that when Kouga had declared that there would be a feast, she wasn't on the menu…for now. The environment around her was loud and jovial as the wolves celebrated their enemy's defeat, and Kagome could audibly hear the crunching of bones and sinew and the smacking of lips and squelching of blood as they feasted. Thankfully, this meal was courtesy of the meat of recently deceased boars and various other forms of wildlife, and Kagome was unendingly grateful that it was not a feast that consisted of human meat.

There was a sense of togetherness in the cave that warmed Kagome, even if she was just an outsider looking in. She noted with interest the way in which the demons huddled together in groups like kids in a school cafeteria, however unlike in _that_ particular hell, the wolves openly talked to those outside of their groups, sharing the joy and merriment with the entire pack and even going so far as to hold entire (shouted) conversations from opposite ends of the room.

Kagome spent quite a time just observing, noting the way the wolves would dig each other with their arms playfully and the way the women would cluster themselves into their own secretive groups and laugh in hushed whispers before returning back to their original seats, winking at the men and shooting knowing glances at each other.

Kouga sat at the back of the cave in the centre, prominent and imposing in a good-natured way and surrounded by both his comrades and actual wolves themselves, leaning against him and resting their heads upon his thighs. Kouga sat cross-legged on a heaped pile of fur, the male wolf demons eagerly encouraging him to drink whilst teasing Kouga about his newest injury, and the women divided between bringing him food, drink and generally attending to his every need (something which Kagome noted with interest seemed to irritate Kouga), and sitting, backs arched provocatively while they swished their hair back and forth and gazing at him flirtatiously, hoping that he would meet their eyes even just for a second.

Kagome was the only living creature that sat alone. She had almost expected there to be more human 'slaves' around and, with a profound sense of guilt, she found herself wishing that there were – at least then she would have some company in the awfully lonely crevice that she was huddled into. However, that wasn't the way things worked around here it seemed; she was the exception and not the rule. Humans weren't slaves, they were merely food.

Time had begun to pass quickly now, and the wolves' raucous laughter had begun to diminish as they leaned back on hands and elbows, content and full. Kagome on the other hand had failed to eat a thing, as all of the food was in the centre of a particularly large throng of boisterous wolves, and the only fires that were around seemed to serve only as a source of light rather than an instrument to cook with. Unsurprisingly, the wolves ate their meat raw.

She had waited, wondering if Kouga would perhaps extend so much as an ounce of kindness towards her and offer her even a morsel, but she was bitterly disappointed to find that he did not even look at her once during the course of the night, let alone offer her any nourishment. Kagome stared at her feet with a sting in her throat that grated each time she swallowed and thought of how she wanted nothing more than to go back home. She hadn't meant to become swept up in the festivities of the demons, but watching them feast and laugh together whilst she sat alone and cold made her feel like a child with no one to play with in the playground – and it made her savagely upset.

A sudden 'plop' startled her and she snatched her head upwards, meeting the eyes of a female wolf demon that was dressed prettily in furs and armour, with vibrant blonde hair that sparked brightly in the light of the fires and candles around them. At Kagome's feet was a single, bloody steak, which sat dismally on the cold stone beneath them.

'Kouga told me to give this to you.' The girl did not even honour Kagome with the courtesy of eye contact and she sniffed, disgruntled as she turned away.

'Wait!' Kagome called out desperately. 'I can't eat this, it's raw.'

'Not my problem.' The girl did not turn back, or even stop walking.

Kagome gingerly lifted the corner of the bloodied meat and crinkled her nose as she saw the dirt and dust that clung to the now-ruined meal. The girl hadn't even put it on a plate; she had merely dropped it at her feet as if Kagome were nothing more than a dog, though Kagome expected that even a dog would be treated better than she was here.

She gritted her teeth determinedly as she set the meat back down onto the dusty floor; Kagome would not eat this offensive gesture of superiority. Regardless of what these demons thought, she refused to allow them to best her or to dominate her so insultingly, and if she had to starve to make sure that she accomplished this then so be it, she would gladly starve than eat raw meat that had been dropped crudely on the ground like scraps.

Kagome refused to watch anymore of the festivities, and forced her eyes to remain glued to her lap until eventually the noise in the cave quietened and the shuffling of footsteps and occasional hushed laughter were the only sounds that she could hear.

It was only when everyone else had left that Kouga himself approached Kagome.

'Aren't you going to eat that?'

Kagome looked up at him in disgust, offended and humiliated. 'It's raw, and it's covered in dirt.'

'So?' Kouga cocked his head to the side in a way that connoted confusion. Surely he was not serious.

'Don't you think I deserve something a little less degrading and a little more appetising than that?' Kagome fumed, tears once again pooling in her eyes, though this time exhibiting embarrassment rather than sadness.

'Not particularly.' Was Kouga's only reply.

'I helped you to defeat the Birds of Paradise; I found the shard and I saved one of your pack, and you don't think I deserve anything for that?'

'Yes I do, that's why you're not dead. As a thank you for your help.' Her mouth gaped open in pure, unadulterated astonishment. Kouga was so blasé in his distasteful treatment of her, that for a moment Kagome assumed that she must have been in some kind of ultra-realistic, twisted dream. It was difficult to process that such a spiteful creature could even exist in reality, and Kagome closed her eyes briefly, praying to wake up in her bed, safe and warm and delighted in the knowledge that Kouga and his pack were just awful creations of an over-active imagination.

When she finally spoke, her voice shook audibly. 'You are the most vile and disgusting person that I have ever met, and I want to go home. If that's not an option for me then I really will eat that steak, so that at least I'll be dead and I won't have to spend a single second longer in this wretched, awful place.'

Kouga looked pensive for a second, surveying her with peering eyes. 'What do you mean 'at least you'll be dead' if you eat the meat?'

'Because it's _raw._ Humans can't eat _raw food._ Plus it's covered in filth and it will have all kinds of disgusting bacteria on it. At the very least I'll get sick if I eat it.' Kagome explained incredulously, as if teaching a toddler the difference between its fingers and its toes.

'Bacteria?' Now Kouga really did look perplexed, his head cocked so far to one side that it looked as if his neck might snap.

'It's-never mind, forget what I said about bacteria. All that's important is that if I eat that steak I'll be ill or worse. Don't you know anything about humans?'

'Hm.' Kouga bent down and picked up the pathetic morsel before throwing it to the nearest wolf who chomped down upon it hungrily. Kagome watched the food be devoured with a remorseful pang of grief that her one chance for an actual had been taken from her. 'Humans really are weak creatures.'

With that Kouga made his way to the remaining cuts of meat that rested on a large, wooden table, and deftly stuck one of the larger slabs onto the end of a long stick before holding it lazily above the embers of one of the still-burning fires. He remained there for several minutes, Kagome watching him twist the stick round and round silently, thoroughly baking each side.

After he seemed satisfied with his work, he placed the steak onto a gnarled, wooden plate and brought it to her.

'Ok, now eat.' He stated, with a hint of inquisitive wonder in his voice.

'Without any cutlery?' Kagome asked, almost exasperated at this point.

'Cutlery?' Kouga's face scrunched together judgementally. 'We don't use that. Our fangs are sharp.'

'Well that's wonderful for you, but I don't happen to share your fortune. I don't _have_ fangs.' Kagome held the offending plate of food at arm's length, glaring at Kouga as he surveyed her the way one would survey an animal in a zoo.

He shrugged unconcernedly before taking a seat on the ground in front of her, chin in hands and eyes trained unwaveringly on her face. Begrudgingly, Kagome realised that she had no other choice and picked up the large portion of meat with her bare hands before chomping down upon it heartily, her stomach suddenly rumbling into action. It was difficult to chew through the fat and tougher parts of the steak without the aid of a knife and a fork – and this was made harder still by the incessantly annoying snorts of laughter that came from Kouga each time she struggled – but eventually she finished with a satisfied sigh. When she finally met Kouga's eyes again, she watched as they danced purple in the flicker of the reddened flames.

'Why am I still here?' Her question was soft, and even a tad poignant with sadness.

'Because, you can sense the jewel shards.' His answer was swift and uncomforting.

'But I found the Bird of Paradise's shard.' She retorted, desperate to get more than a sentence out of him, desperate to relieve the constant anxiety over her uncertain future.

'There are more jewel shards than just that one.'

'I know that, but aren't you tired of having a human around?' She supposed that she was playing a dangerous game, but neither he nor his pack were fans of 'her kind', and Kagome was hoping that she could appeal to the kinder side of him (all the while trying not to contemplate the very real possibility that he didn't have a 'kinder' side) to release her peacefully – if only to rid himself of the presence of a human.

'You think I should kill you then?' He inquired, his interest in her peaking some.

'No! I just think you should let me go. I don't care if you even drop me off in the middle of nowhere, I just want to leave.' Kagome pleaded now, searching his eyes for something, anything that she could appeal to.

He seemed conflicted by this idea, eyebrows knitted together in a jagged line that hinted at deep thought. 'It seems kind of…unfinished to just 'let you go' like that. I feel like I should at least eat you or something, just to at least have some kind of definitive ending.'

'A definitive ending to what?' Kagome sighed, too tired to become particularly emotional at this point. Kouga just shrugged and returned to his thoughts for a few moments before standing and staring at her pointedly.

Kagome took the hint and lifted herself to her feet to join him, following obediently as he lead her either to his bed or to her slaughter. Either way, she didn't have enough energy left to fight whatever he had in store for her.

* * *

So not to her slaughter, but not exactly to his bed, either. Kagome yawned grumpily as she peeled herself off of the hard, unyielding floor and massaged her aching muscles forcefully. She shot a disgruntled look of pure vehemence to the bed that she was humiliatingly forced to sleep on the floor next to, and thoroughly wished that Kouga still lay sleeping peacefully within it so that she could strangle him with his own bed sheets.

As if on cue, he entered the room with a flourish.

'Obviously, I expect this room to be tidied today.' He remarked offhandedly, as if it were her job.

'Excuse me?' Kagome gaped incredulously. He expected her to tidy his room? As if that was going to happen.

'Well I have some duties to attend to before I take you jewel shard hunting again in a few days, and since you have no other use you might as well keep my chambers clean.'

'Yeah, that's not happening. Not even a little bit.' She drew herself to her full height now, which was hilariously diminutive next to Kouga, arms crossed as she tried to look as stern as possible despite a serious case of bed-head. Or floor-head, whichever.

Sarcastic or angry? It was impossible to predict which of these Kouga would be, though he was rarely anything but. He turned his head slightly, hand poised at the door, ready to exit. 'If I get back here and the room isn't cleaned, I will punish you.'

'Better sharpen your claws then, because I assure you it won't be.' Was Kagome's only response as she sniffed at him, taking a page out of the female wolf demons' books and haughtily turning her back on him for once. Kouga merely let a short, abrupt snort escape from his mouth, and then shot her a look of his own that promised consequences.

Running her fingertips along the plush material of his rather lavish armchair, Kagome proceeded to take her place upon its seat, glaring at him pointedly. There would certainly be no cleaning done today and she had no plans of removing herself from this spot until he came back later on, just to prove a point. If this angered him he could feel free to strike her, and if he broke a bone then she would be rendered incapable of cleaning his awful 'chambers' anyway. She may not have been the most cunning, but Kagome was capable of playing games too, you see.

* * *

Of course, Kagome made good on her promise. This girl was stubborn. Kouga was undecided – should he get angry and physically punish the woman, or should he just get even? He had to admit that even though he severely disliked being disobeyed by a human, the woman did grant him some amusement with her futile attempts to defy him; however this also spelled trouble for him. Kouga had more in common with the human than he would ever care to admit, as he too was incredibly stubborn – a thought that he found most distasteful – and the last vestiges of his patience clung firm to his belief that the girl was useful, that the girl _could_ be useful if she could be trained. But then, how to train her? And did he even want to? It certainly seemed like a rather time-consuming task to teach her to obediently follow his will, he found himself thinking as he stepped into the room and saw her still sitting in the chair that he had expressly forbade her from using the night before, hands clasped in her lap and her face a picture of defiance. Clearly she had been waiting for him.

'Did you bring your whip? Your hot poker perhaps?' Kagome's words oozed with sarcasm and her expression was caustic and biting. She had not and would not clean, and in fact she had knocked a few things over and left them in a state of disarray as an extra, added 'fuck you'.

'Now why would I need to use a hot poker when I have my claws?' He surveyed said claws uninterestedly, twisting his hand round to offer her the full effect of his razor-sharp weapons of choice.

'How unimaginative. If you're going to torture me I thought you'd at least try and get creative.' Kagome knew that she was prodding the wolf unwisely, baiting him and playing a game that she would likely not win, but she had been humiliated, hurt and made to feel worthless more times in the past couple of days than she ever had in her life, and she couldn't stop herself from retaliating in any other way.

'It almost sounds like you're looking forward to this, woman. Maybe deep down you're a bit of a masochist? It certainly would explain your preoccupation with my methods of punishment.' Kouga was openly smiling now, but it was not a smile of amusement or laughter – instead it was wicked in nature and he found himself itching to dig his claws deep into her flesh. Her insubordination was starting to grate.

' Ew, no. I'm not disgusting, unlike you.'

With one, fluid movement, he was upon her. Swiftly he picked her up by the neck and removed her from the seat, forcefully. He had always had trouble measuring his strength against creatures so much weaker than him, and though he intended only to fling her down by his feet, he found that he had thrown her with more strength than needed and in an instant her lithe, fragile body was in the air. For a moment, Kagome thought that the world had started spinning and she vaguely wondered why she was hovering upside down. But of course, she wasn't hovering at all, and as if on cue she felt herself drop, a dull crack following as her elbow drove into the ground. Though that level of force was not entirely Kouga's intention, it would certainly send a message. Almost immediately she sat up, stunned and disorientated, looking blankly around the room as though trying to recognise her surroundings. Shaking her head dazedly, Kagome refocused her eyes and lifted them reproachfully to meet his.

After a few brief seconds, she spoke. 'That was it? I at least expected a broken bone or something. I'm disappointed.' Kagome tried to laugh in an unimpressed manner, but her voice was shaking.

'You're a real glutton for punishment I see. Any other human would be dead by now you know if they had shown me even a fraction of the disrespect that you present me with on a daily basis.' Kouga made no move to reach her as he spoke, instead preferring to just observe her for now – he really hated to admit it, but in some small way she got to him, making it difficult for him to decide whether he was furious or just simply amused. Perhaps he was both, the fury being the cause of his harsh words and harsher actions, and the amusement being her only saving grace, the only reason why he allowed her to still live…or at least the reason why he had not yet reprimanded her to a much more appropriate and painful degree. She was unlike any other human that he had ever met – not that he had actually really ever spoken more than a few words to other humans – and he found her fire an interesting challenge. He found that he wanted to crush her spirit, and break her until she complied with his desires without so much as a hesitation. He would use violence to do it if he had to, though destroying her without any physical contact did provide a more tempting and overall satisfying challenge.

'Then why aren't I?' It felt as though she had asked that question a million times since she had been here, but as many times as she had vocalised it, she still found herself alive and breathing.

'Because I have use for you, potentially, if you behave. I've told you this.' Kouga grew tired on these incessant explanations.

'But I 'disrespect' you, and I'm disobedient, and your pack clearly don't want me here. Why even keep me around when I'm such a liability?'

Kouga's eyes widened fractionally as he mulled over her words carefully. 'So are you saying that you actually want to be killed?' He was confused, it seemed that she often spoke empty words of death and suicide, but could it be that now she actually wanted to die? That was not in line with the limited knowledge that he had of human behaviour as usually they held out some semblance of hope, right up until the last moment of life. He could see it in their eyes and hear it in their screams as they were torn apart; they were searching for something, anything that would save them. But of course, nothing ever did.

'I…I just want to go home.' A silent tear fell, the first tear that had actually managed to escape her avaricious eyes in the entire time that she had been there.

'Well you can't go home.' It was final, and it was non-debatable.

'I will find a way out of this place, I don't care what I have to do.' Kagome sniffled meekly.

'There are plenty of ways out,' Kouga began lightly. 'I can direct you to them all actually. But the only way you will physically leave these caves without my permission is in death. So please, by all means, attempt to escape, you won't make it home either way, and I'm sure that whatever family you may have would prefer to cling on to the hope that somewhere out there you're still alive than to be delivered your head. Choose wisely, Kagome. This isn't a game you can win.'

It was the first time that Kouga had ever used Kagome's name, and it sent an icy chill of dread along her spine. She had never heard her name spoken in such a way before, and she prayed that he would not speak it again. It was not a gesture of growing intimacy or friendship, nor was it a gentle attempt at comfort and reassurance; it was a threat. Despite this, Kagome still bristled at the mention of her family. He did not know them, and as far as she was concerned he had no right to speak of them either.

'The only thing that would hurt my family is the knowledge that I had given in to someone like you. Don't ever talk about them, you don't know anything about the type of people that they are.'

'And I won't have to, if you be a good little girl like I've asked. But the thing is, if you were to disobey me again and I was forced to kill you, I think I'd have to pay them a visit to deliver your severed head to them personally. Then I think I'd get to know all about them, and I'd find out _exactly_ what would hurt them.'

Kagome stiffened. Of course, he didn't know that her family were technically five hundred years in the future from now, but the thought of his 'visiting' her family still unnerved her. Kagome still had no idea how the well worked, and Kouga had jewel shards. What if he somehow discovered where she was from and actually managed to travel through the well to get to them? It seemed downright impossible when thought about logically, but then again so did time travel itself and Kagome couldn't help but feel a niggle of terror probing against the back of her mind. She began to reconsider her standoff against this man, and Kouga saw it; the look of defeat in her eyes, and he fought the urge to cackle with victory.

'I'll leave you to think about what I've said, and when I return I expect my chambers to be spotless. Whether you choose to clean or not is your decision, but just know that there are always consequences for your actions, woman.' And he began to smile more widely.

* * *

One miserable week had passed since then, and Kagome spent the majority of her time frantically tried to keep her head above the water. It seemed that Kouga found her latest subservience amusing, and delighted in taking every opportunity to order her around like a pathetic slave as he incited his comrades to do the same. Each day was filled with endless chores and barked orders that were expected to be completed to a standard that was impossible to attain, leading to further threats and demeaning comments.

It was for her family, she kept reminding herself over and over. Even a small chance that they could get hurt, no matter how minute or how improbable it seemed made this worth it. She rubbed her aching elbow gingerly, it being one of the consequences of her 'fall', a huge purple bruise encompassing much of her right thigh being the rest of it. She had to admit that she had grown frightened of Kouga since that night, more so than before, as though she had often spoke of death and of defying him without regard for the consequences it was another thing entirely to experience it and perhaps she was naïve in her bravery before that night. No matter how hard she tried not to, Kagome constantly relived the feeling of being hurled through the air as if she were nothing more than a feather or a tiny puppy.

It was midday, and a few benevolent rays of sunlight were streaming in through the small cracks in the cave's exterior, creating golden patterns that decorated Kagome's face. Suddenly, there was a roar that shattered the calm and a demon had Kouga clutched tightly by the neck in his meaty hands. Interested now, Kagome sat straighter and gave the scene before her her full attention. At first she had considered cheering, or calling out to the demon that challenged Kouga, lending words of support and encouragement. However, she was not a popular presence in these mountains and instead decided only to utter the words 'kick his ass' under her breath, giving the demon support in spirit only.

Immediately the air around her was heavy with ferocious growls that erupted from every body in the room except hers, like a low siren that warned of an oncoming battle.

'You aren't worthy of leading this pack, Kouga. You use jewel shards for strength, but without them you are nothing. And now to add insult to injury, you bring a human into our home? Even as a slave it is insulting to have to tolerate. You say she's useful because she can detect the jewel shards, but a true leader wouldn't need them; a true leader would rule with his own strength, and his own strength only.' He was large, larger than Kouga, and decidedly more agitated. His words dripped with venom, oozing from his mouth like the most acrid of poisons. His face was strong and defined, but in a way that was sharp and ugly, and his teeth, pearly white rows of jagged ivory, shone out from withdrawn lips like that of a shark preparing to chomp down on its latest meal. His hair was a ugly shade brown that was tied away from his face messily, and he had eyes that were stony and cutting like the jagged edge of a cliff.

Kouga was relatively nonplussed, which was surprising considering that he had a rather large hand wrapped around his neck that appeared to be squeezing, hard. It was difficult to best Kouga in terms of height considering that he was so tall, and he easily leaned above his current foe by at least three inches. However, the demon opposing him was broad in an almost disproportionate way, and though Kouga's body was also muscular and expansive, it was a far cry from the demon opposite him.

'Remove your hand, that isn't a request.' Kouga's voice was slightly affected by the tight grasp that currently ensnared his throat and it came out thickly, but this was the only indication that he was anything other than relaxed and calm. It was a deadly kind of level-headedness.

'You're not fit to rule this tribe and you know it. You bring humans into our clan and you hide behind jewel shards to mask the fact that you have no real strength of your own, and I think this calls for a change in leader. Who's with me?!' He addressed the crowd of rumbling demons now, and though most only continued their relentless growls, a handful of wolves gave low murmurs of approval, openly going against their leader.

'You have one more chance to remove this hand, before I remove it for you.' Kouga's voice was cold, and his eyes were like ice.

'I don't think I will remove it, I think instead I'll just remove _you_ from this tribe. You may have most of this pack fooled, but I still remember weak little Kouga from the West, too pathetic to even stand up to his own father when he beat him, curled up into a ball and crying like the coward that you still are.'

 _Crack._

In one deft movement, Kouga slammed his fist into the centre of the demon's face and his opponent flew backwards, landing with such force that Kagome could swear she that felt the cave shake. Kouga's opponent was on his back now, and looking into his eyes Kagome saw no trace of the venomous grit that was present before, instead seeing only the whites of his eyes. Blood poured from his nose like a pump, spurting and gushing with fervour as the demon clapped his hand to the wound in astonished agony, whilst Kouga stood above him. It was a grisly scene and Kagome turned her eyes from it for a second to relieve her senses of such a sight, when she noticed Kouga; it was brief but for a second as she looked into his eyes she did not see anger, nor did she see malice. Instead, she only saw pain, and then she saw nothing.

Within an instant he had gone, much to the chagrin of some of the more bloodthirsty of his pack who called for him to return and finish the job. As for the rest of the demons, they were content in his victory, and with his position as their leader. For some reason however, Kagome couldn't stop thinking about his eyes. They stuck with her in a way that she couldn't quite shake, though none of Kouga's pack seemed to have even noticed.

Kagome very quickly grew restless, the image of his eyes haunting her. She looked around the room, certain that none of the other demons shared her discomfort. To them, he was their strong and stoic leader who ruled his clan forcefully with the confidence of a man who had no regrets, and no fears. Against her better judgement Kagome quickly stood, and, trying to appear as diminutive as possible so as not to be noticed, snuck out into one of the adjoining caves.

After several minutes of searching, Kagome realised the fault in her plan; she had no idea where Kouga would be, no idea where she even was, and no idea how to navigate herself around the caves. The first place she had tried was Kouga's room (she was incredibly apprehensive about actually entering his chambers without his permission, but she did so anyway, almost relieved to find that he wasn't there), but since his chambers and the 'dining cave' were the only two places that she had actually been to for any substantial period of time, it was difficult to even know where to begin. She had refrained from exploring her new 'home' despite her curiosity for fear of punishment from Kouga, or worse, for fear of stumbling upon another less-friendly demon...though Kouga himself wasn't exactly 'friendly'. She took a brief moment to consider why she was even looking for him in the first place as she wandered tentatively around the caves, considering that perhaps what she saw was all in her imagination. And if it wasn't she thought, who cares? What had he done to even deserve her concern? Still though, the memory of his eyes spurred her onwards until she felt a cool breeze kiss her slightly perspiring forehead, and in front of her stood a door that had been left slightly ajar. A tender breeze blew coolly from gap, suggesting that it lead outdoors. Now Kagome found herself both intrigued and cautiously optimistic, was this perhaps her means of escape?

The door opened with ease and without any semblance of creak, revealing a cloudless blue sky and a view of the ground below that took her breath away. She supposed that the room could be best described as a balcony, though not in the sense that she was accustomed to. It was as though it had once been an entire, enclosed room, and then it had been sliced in half to reveal the vista before them. A roof covered the length of the floor, and there was no guard or safety rail to prevent a fall – those who enjoyed the view would have to do so at their own risk. This was not the focus of her attention however, as upon opening the door she revealed the object of her search: Kouga. He sat centrally on the precipice of the cave, legs dangling nonchalantly over the edge as though there wasn't a fatal fall directly below them. Kagome hesitated in her approach, and then softly closed the door and perched herself behind him, not daring enough to venture _quite_ so close to the edge as him.

It appeared as though Kouga was deep in thought, to the point where he had even failed to hear her enter or sense her presence, and she enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun on her face and the view of green and blue below her as she mulled over whether to actually disturb him, or to turn tail and run as if she had never even been there.

In the end, as it usually did, her mouth made the decision for her.

'Kouga?' Her voice was soft and non-threatening, encouraging almost, but still he whirled his head around rapidly, a look of sheer malevolence in his eyes for whoever had dared to disturb him. The light of recognition overcame the malevolence as he realised who it was, and his face eased into a look of dismissive annoyance.

'I'm not in the mood for you right now, human. Leave.' He was not facing her now, choosing to turn his eyes to the expanse of land and nature before him.

Kagome sat silently, not moving, but also not prying. Kouga sighed once, but did not seem to detest her presence as much as she had anticipated, allowing her to sit next to him quietly for several minutes. She tried to study the vista that her seat allowed her to view, but every time she did she found herself returning her eyes involuntarily to his face, observing the way the corners of his mouth were downturned and his eyes were sombre.

'You know, I think you owe me.' Kagome broke the peaceful silence gently. Kouga noted how her voice sounded pleasant rather than demanding, and he inched his head slightly to see a small smile grace her lips.

'Are we really doing this again human?' He asked flatly, mood too bleak to actually become angry. Her smile did not waver.

'Yes, because you see I helped you to defeat the Birds of Paradise didn't I? I mean I know you said my reward was that I was still alive, but I think I deserve something a little more than that.' Kouga's eyebrow cocked disbelievingly now. She knew he could just throw her off the side of the cliff to her death, right? If she did, she seemed unperturbed by it and in fact her smile only grew, face smiling kindly at him.

'Oh? And what is it that you feel that you deserve in repayment for such a selfless and charitable act?' Kouga's voice was laced with sarcasm now; it wasn't as if she had offered to help – he had kidnapped and forced her to help, so clearly she was not in a position to be asking for favours.

She took a brief moment to tuck a small strand of hair that blew gently in the zephyr behind her ears before replying. 'Can I ask you a question?' Was her only response.

Kouga snorted now, fully engaged in her and twisting his body around to face her more head on. What kind of game was she playing?

'No, you can't. You aren't worth the breath I'd waste responding.' His words suggested animosity but his eyes were wide and bright, and Kagome could tell that he was curious.

'Well I think you should reconsider. After all, I could have tried to make my escape on the battlefield, or given you false information that could have gotten you killed.'

'It's not my fault that you're too stupid to take an opportunity to escape.' He retorted blankly. Kagome could feel her head pulsate in anger, and it took a considerable amount of willpower to keep her demeanour gentle and calm. Kouga was surprised to find that rather than rise to his baiting, she merely looked at him expectantly, like a dog waiting for scraps.

Kouga sighed, defeated. He did not have the energy to go head-to-head with the human again today. 'What's your question?'

'What was your mother like?' Her query was sudden, and without much thought. In truth, she did not have a question for him, but the moment he acquiesced she found herself suddenly burningly curious about his past. That other demon had mentioned 'weak little Kouga of the West', or something to that effect, and she had a sudden, ravenous desire to know that child.

Kouga stiffened in anger. She dared to ask him such a personal question? Did she think that she could manipulate him, to try and make him vulnerable and then to use that to her advantage? Fully ready to chastise her violently, Kouga's eyes fell upon hers, and he paused, lost in their warm, ochre depths. And then, without really understanding why, he began to speak.

'She was…cold. And distant. She was often more preoccupied with herself or my father to bother to pay any attention to me and when she did, it was usually to tell me about how I'd managed to disappoint her yet again.' He was hesitant as he spoke, unsure and confused as to why he was speaking in the first place, but for some reason it felt almost therapeutic to tell her of his past even though it was something that he had never told anyone else before. 'My father felt that the best way to teach a child was to beat the child, and my mother seemed to agree. Most of the memories that I have of her during my childhood and adolescence are of silent meals and of her telling me that I was a coward for crying when my father would hit me.' His face began to show the unmistakeable expression of self-loathing. 'She was right though, I was pathetic, and most unforgivably I was weak.'

Kagome's face crumpled into a heartbroken frown, her heart beating at a mournful pace. Kagome had thought that Kouga was just a bastard, but it was easy to see why he would be the way that he was when his father beat him and even his own mother did nothing to stop it, or to at the very least comfort him. Normally, it would be difficult imagining the well-defined man next to her as a child, but as she listened she saw a vulnerability in him that she had not seen in anyone else before, and in that instance she could picture a small, dark-haired, tear-stained boy who needed his mother, who just needed someone to hold him and tell him that it would be alright.

In a sudden moment of warm compassion, and without any real cognition behind it, Kagome put her arms around Kouga, enveloping him in the tightest hug that she could muster. There was brief panic when Kagome registered exactly what she had done, but when she snapped her head up to search his face for any kind of vexation, he was already looking at her, eyes cloudy and face expressionless. He let her stay like this, not moving or protesting, just being, and after several long moments Kagome felt the tension leave her body and she relaxed into him, resting her cheek against the cool armour on his shoulder. She concentrated on the rise and fall of his chest, actively trying to synchronise their breathing as if it would somehow make them more connected.

'I…I don't know much about wolf demons,' Kagome began, her voice tender and encouraging. 'But it's wrong of you to say that your mother was right, because she wasn't. Going through that kind of stuff doesn't make you weak Kouga, it's what makes you strong.'

Kouga spent what seemed like an age surveying the peaks of mountains, the blue of lakes and the green of trees below him, as a foreign part of him – the same part that spurred him to talk about his mother in the first place – found comfort in the small human's not-quite-big-enough embrace. Her words struck at a place in his chest that he was terrified to find merely laid dormant rather than non-existent as he had assumed, and her words stung him, not because they were unkind but rather because they were, deep down, what he had always longed to hear. Kouga had no idea if she had meant what she had said, or if she was just trying to placate him in a way that would eventually lead to her safe release, but she sounded sincere and in that moment he allowed himself to take comfort in her. This would not change things, and neither would it change his opinion of her or of other humans, but for now at least he would let himself see her not as a human or as s pitiable creature, but as a person. He could have stayed wrapped in her tiny arms for the rest of the day and quite possibly all through the night too, however he had duties to attend to and he knew that his pack would be beginning to become antsy due to his lack of return after his altercation.

'I need to get back to the pack.' Spoke a voice that was severely reluctant to break the silence.

'Oh, of course.' Kagome's voice was thick and quiet, and it appeared as though in the calm she had dozed off for a while. The corner of Kouga's mouth upturned slightly; a human falling asleep on his shoulder was certainly a first for him. Was it bravery, a sort of misguided belief that she would be safe asleep upon his shoulder, or was it just stupidity that allowed the girl to believe that she would come to no harm? Perhaps it was necessary to show the human a reminder of just how dangerous he could be.

'Thing is,' Kouga began mischievously, 'I don't really feel like walking back to the front of the caves.' So this was the back of the caves? Kagome made sure that she would remember that for navigation purposes.

'But how else would you get back?' Kagome asked perplexed. Her eyebrows crinkled daintily into a frown of sorts.

'I'll jump.' Kouga shrugged before, without warning, he bundled Kagome up into his arms and stood, stepping onto the lip of the cliff and almost teetering over the edge as he swayed in the bluster of wind.

'ARE YOU CRAZY?!' Kagome screamed in terror. 'WE'LL DIE!'

'Only one way to find out.' Kouga smirked with genuine mirth, before plummeting them both off of the side of mountain.

Of course, Kagome screamed loudly. Colours flew past her as they dropped, and for the second time that day she found herself actually _wanting_ to cling to Kouga's body with her own, seeking relief from the terror that instinctively came from falling from great heights. It seemed to take an age to reach the ground, and Kagome began to desperately try to apply logic to her situation rather than emotion. Kouga was a demon, and as such he was able to endure falling from a mountain, and there was no way he'd jump from a height that he couldn't survive, right? Well, unless he was trying to do some kind of suicide-murder thing, which Kagome severely doubted. Try as she might however, the thought did little to comfort her and as she saw the ground steadily approach, her heartbeat became wild and hysterical, reaching its crescendo the moment that they made contact with the floor.

Upon landing Kagome fell to her knees, legs too weak from the fright to sustain herself. Wheeling around rather awkwardly on the floor, Kagome began to yell.

'WHAT THE HELL?!' She turned on Kouga, fully prepared to deliver a barrage of anger that would last minutes, however, upon turning she saw him smile, and upon their eyes meeting he began to laugh.

Annoyingly, and against her will, she began to smile too.

'Don't think that because I'm smiling I think this is funny, I'm pissed at you.' She said unconvincingly, grinning widely now. It was strange to see him laugh; and though she did not necessarily find his actions amusing, she found it difficult not to laugh with him.

After a few minutes of genuine laughter, Kouga exhaled mirthfully.

'The next time you try and comfort me,' he started with a cock of the eyebrow, 'I'll hurl us off of an even _higher_ cliff.'

Kagome's mouth opened with a surprised 'pop'. 'So you jumped off some big ass cliff with me in your arms because I was _nice to you?_ ' Kagome asked incredulously.

'I didn't ask for your comfort, human.' Kouga retorted, smile still expansive on his face.

'Oh well don't worry, I won't even think about being nice to you ever again.' Kagome snapped moodily. Any amicability that she may have felt for Kouga had dissolved completely, like water in a desert, and her face was scorching hot with surprise and embarrassment. Kagome supposed that this was probably Kouga's intention, to petrify her after their moment of tenderness in order to show her that she was still nothing more to him than an insect to toy with when he pleased, and that her embrace had meant nothing to him. She sincerely hoped that he was happy, because it had worked.

'Good,' his voice was serious now, and his gaze was intense, 'you shouldn't try to be 'nice' to anyone here. Stay away from the other wolf demons in these mountains, they won't be as tolerant with you as I have been.'

' _Kouga? Tolerant? As if.'_ She thought feeling childishly grumpy now, until the realisation that Kouga had already turned to leave roused her attention. _'Why does always walk away and leave me?!'_ With the harrowing realisation that she had no idea where she was, and the firm desire to not run into any other wolf demons on the mountain, Kagome began to sprint towards Kouga, who was already a substantial way ahead of her. She called out to him, but he seemed not to hear her – or deliberately ignored her as was more probable – and she found that she spent the best part of a few tiring minutes trying to keep up with him, the infuriating smirk that she occasionally caught sight of enough to convince her that he was deliberately walking ahead.

When she finally reached the caves, Kouga escorted her back to his room and promptly crushed her hopes of at least being able to sleep in the chair – or any surface other than the hard floor – with the most wicked grin that she had ever seen.

She may have observed a different side of Kouga today, but she was still thoroughly confident in the fact that she very much hated him.

* * *

 **That's the end! I hope you liked this chapter, and if you did please review and follow and favourite etc. etc.!**

 **Hopefully I'll be able to stick to my 'one chapter per week' schedule, but the first 3 chapters I had managed to write in advance, and I currently have not started the 4th chapter! I'll start writing it tomorrow, but since I have exams in May it may take 2 weeks for an update. Regardless, I'm having so much fun writing this story that I'll do my absolute best to post a new chapter next Thursday!**

 **Seeya next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**When Memories Fade – Chapter 4**

 **Hey guys, it's another chapter! I've mentioned this already but exams are in less than a month for me so please forgive me if between now and the end of May my updates begin to stop being once a week and become more irregular.**

 **Also, yes guys. Kagome has an iPhone. That's just how it is.**

 **Anyway, please enjoy chapter 4 :)**

* * *

It was another day, another sunset, and another cold stone floor for Kagome to wake up on. How long had it been now since she had been brought to these caves? She kept a mental tally in her head, ticking off the days as she cycled through each one. Finally, she came to this day. Her tenth day trapped here in the mountains. Suffice to say, Kouga had been predictably aloof since the moment that they had shared on the side of the mountain, but despite the distance that he seemed adamant at keeping, he also seemed to have stopped his pack from giving her copious amounts of chores. She found this both a curse and a blessing; it was a relief to not have to struggle with each and every difficult and menial task she was given, however she was also lonely as she was now mostly ignored. It was for this reason that Kagome was enticed into approaching a group of females that she regularly saw together during meal times later that day. Unfortunately, the blonde-haired demon who served her the grimy cut of meat days prior was a part of this group, but it seemed a much more sensible option to approach a more intimate and small gathering of women rather than one of the larger cliques.

It was as though the distastefulness of Kagome's presence was literally palpable, as before she had even gotten within a hundred feet of the women, they slammed their plates filled with dripping cuts of meat (which was all the wolves ever seemed to eat to Kagome's great dismay) onto the stone floor in front of them and simply glared at her, teeth bared and growling like actual wolves.

'Um,' Kagome started dumbly, suddenly very much regretting her decision. 'Can…can I, maybe, sit with you?'

The blonde haired demon, the girl with the pretty hazel eyes and sparkling hair, immediately sprang into action and pounced like a leopard on its gasping prey. Kagome let out a short, sharp scream and covered her face with her arms in a futile attempt to protect herself. A second went by, and then two, but she still had yet to feel the girl's punishing blow. Meekly removing her arms from her face fractionally – just enough to see – she witnessed the blonde demon restrained in her friends' arms, teeth chomping in an animalistic fashion as she struggled to release herself.

'Miki, stop!' One of the other demons grunted, straining to keep her away from Kagome. 'If you touch that girl Kouga will kill you. Just leave it!' 'Miki', as the girl seemed to be called, did not reply other than that of a deep, guttural snarl.

'Just forget about her – she's a human. She's not worth dying for.' Another of her friends urged concernedly, taking a moment to shoot Kagome a look of hatred as if her friend's reaction was somehow her fault.

Kagome was stunned; she had perhaps expected to be scorned or told to leave, but the sheer level of vehemence that she received from simply daring to address these women was astonishing. She began to back away, fully aware that the entire cave was now deathly silent and all eyes were on her. She was unsure now whether to sit down on her own and eat, or whether to run and hide.

The arrival of Kouga had a surprisingly calming effect on the wolves, and he relieved the grateful women of their task of restraining Miki by picking her up by the scruff of the neck as a mother wolf would her cubs, and holding her, suspended in the air. He looked back and forth between the women and Kagome with cool eyes, digesting the scene before him.

'So, let me guess,' he began with a hint of grim amusement to his voice, 'the human talked to you and Miki flipped her shit.'

' _Flipped her shit?'_ For once, it was Kagome's turn to arch her eyebrow speculatively. _'Is that even a phrase they used in feudal times?'_ The momentary flicker of eyebrows in the room was enough to convince Kagome that she was not the only one surprised by Kouga's newest colloquialism.

Miki stopped her posturing fairly rapidly after Kouga's arrival, clearly out of respect (or fear) for her leader, and once Kouga was satisfied that she was calm enough to refrain from doing anything stupid, he set her down upon the floor. He sighed as he regarded Kagome with a look that almost spoke of disappointment.

'Eat, relax. I'll deal with the human.' He was addressing the whole cave now. He then grabbed Kagome's arm and lead her to the very back of the cave where she usually sat alone, confident that his pack would not dare to eavesdrop on them. Once they were both motionless, he folded his arms and waited, like a mother waiting for an apology from a naughty child.

'What?' Kagome asked defensively. 'All I did was ask if I could sit with them. Her reaction was so not necessary.'

'Didn't I tell you that other day not to be nice to the people here? That they wouldn't tolerate you as I have?' Kagome chastised, his mood soured slightly by the commotion interrupting what had up until this point been a relatively calm few days.

'Ok, well for starters, you're not tolerant. At all.' Her fear of Kouga that she had felt in the days previous had all but dissipated. It was easy to have been afraid when his attack was still fresh in her mind and his presence was very current and imposing, but as her bruises had faded and as Kouga had been relatively absent over the past three days, Kagome was struggling to hang on to her sense of justifiable cautiousness. 'Secondly, can you blame me? You've ignored me for the past three days and so have your pack. At least when you guys were ordering me around I got some kind of human interaction-' she stopped abruptly when Kouga's eyebrow quirked upwards, then corrected herself. '-some kind of interaction, but now nobody talks to me, and I'm lonely and I'm bored.'

Truthfully, Kouga found it struggle to even work up the effort to care. In usual circumstances, if a human were to remain in his caves for a period of time for whatever reason without being eaten immediately, they would be quiet, obedient and terrified. Kouga would have no reason to interact with them, and in fact he usually refrained from speaking to them entirely, believing it to be beneath him and delegating that task to somebody else.

Sometimes he even forgot to feed them.

With this girl however, he was beginning to realise that it was better to at least satisfy her needs to some degree whilst he still had use for her, as she had proved very adept at causing him intolerable irritation. If she were dissatisfied with something she would make it very clear and of course, since she was more outspoken and foolishly brave than any other human he had come across, the rest of his pack could not stand the girl. This unfortunately meant that the only way to ensure that she would not be murdered would be to deal with her personally rather than delegating _that_ particular pleasantry onto someone else.

Kouga put his hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He had thought that their altercation a few nights before would have spurred her to become compliant and tentative, however her subservience lasted merely days and it seemed that now she was back to her feisty self.

'I-' Kouga began before being interrupted.

'Oh and thirdly, since when the hell did you start using the phrase, 'flipping your shit'?' For some reason, Kagome had a strangely burning desire to know the answer to that question. Did people in the feudal era really say 'flipping your shit'?

Kouga's irritation more than doubled at her impromptu interruption – she was incredibly deft at pushing all of his buttons. He tackled her statements from the most recent first.

'Firstly, I only started saying it since I heard you use that charming little phrase a few days ago. I believe your exact words were, 'you don't need to flip your shit, it's only a tail'.' Ah, yes. The tail incident.

'Secondly, I assumed you would prefer to be ignored rather than constantly ordered around. I considered it to be a kindness that I was showing you, but if you're not satisfied then there are plenty of chores that you are more than welcome to attend to.' He held up a single hand when Kagome opened her mouth to protest; he would not be interrupted again. 'And thirdly, if you think I'm not tolerant then you should go and spend the day with Miki and the rest of the women. Then I'm sure you'd be much more appreciative of how patient I really am with you.'

Kagome was sullen and her face displayed this. 'I just wanted someone to talk to. I'm lonely.' She was whining now, like a child who hadn't gotten their way.

'You're not here to talk, you're here to serve me.' Kouga replied simply.

'Well there hasn't been much 'serving' going on, I haven't even left the caves since the day we fought the Birds of Paradise.'

Kouga contemplated this. He had meant to take the girl shard hunting by now, to test whether in practice she actually was of use to him or not, but his duties as leader had curtailed this and the moment that they had shared a few days previous had unnerved him. He was reluctant to admit this however, and so he had decided to avoid the girl for a while, just long enough for him to gain perspective on the situation.

'Tell you what, today you can leave the caves.' Kagome's eyes lit up immediately but Kouga, like the killjoy that he was, was there to dampen her excitement considerably. 'You can't just go anywhere you want though – you'll have to stay on the territory of this tribe. Also, no wandering off into one of the villages nearby for help, and no trying to escape. Make no mistake; you will be watched, human. But, providing you obey my rules I will allow you to spend the day as you please outside of the caves, and I will see to it personally that you are not prevented from doing so.'

The thought of fresh air and (limited) freedom clearly very much appealed to the girl, and not only did Kouga's allowance of this satisfy her to a degree, it also ensured that she would be out of his hair, at least for the day.

'Will you come with me?' Kagome enquired, wondering if that was his intention. It was better than nothing she supposed, and she literally had no other options.

Kouga openly laughed at this, mockingly and full of superiority. 'Hell no. When I decide I want to spend my day with a pathetic human, I'll let you know. Until then, hurry and run along outside before I change my mind.'

* * *

Outside was balmy, and for the first time in about nine days Kagome was finally able to relax. In celebration of her 'freedom', Kagome had quickly ran to her seemingly bottomless backpack and swapped her jeans for a pleasant sundress to match the equally pleasant weather. The hem of dressed kissed her middle-thigh and it was mainly white, with colourful pink and blue flowers patterning it prettily in a watercolour fashion. As she exited the cave (opting to exit from one of the side exits rather than through the main one, in order to refrain from walking through an actual waterfall and getting soaked), she immediately began to survey her surroundings for potential danger. About a hundred feet in front of her were a group of children, and adjacent to them was a group of watchful mothers. To the left of her were some younger wolf demons, both male and female, and if Kagome had to guess she would assume that they were the demon equivalent of teenagers. To the right of her however, it was completely clear.

Not wanting a repeat of breakfast, Kagome swiftly turned to her right and skipped daintily to a secluded – and more importantly – deserted hill. She sat atop it, content to enjoy the sun's pleasant rays and to merely observe the activities taking place below her. The children played energetically and laughed heartily as the older females surveyed their activities carefully, laughing and smiling amongst each other as they watched their exuberant displays of energy, occasionally tutting when one of the children became a bit _too_ boisterous and intervention was called for.

To her left were the teenagers, and they eerily reminded her of the human teenagers from her time as they laughed and gossiped and occasionally scorned each other, laying propped up on their forearms or on their backs completely, soaking in the sun's delightful rays. It was almost surreal to witness such human behaviour, though Kagome supposed it was universal behaviour rather than specifically 'human'. Still, such kind and tender interactions driven by emotion and intimacy was surprising to witness in a group of people that she knew first hand could have such callous and blatant disregard for the feelings, and indeed, the lives of others. She felt another pang of loneliness and wrapped her arms around her knees tightly, as if trying to comfort herself with a hug; however, hugs weren't particularly effective if you had to embrace yourself. Across her field of vision was a sudden blur, and though it moved almost too fast for her to see, Kagome recognised what seemed to be a young girl in visible distress. She raced quickly across the land, down a steep path and then vanished.

Kagome hesitated, once again having to fight a battle between instinct and logic. Though she was moving quickly, and though she was just far enough away to cause her to have to squint, Kagome clearly saw the features of a deeply upset young girl. Kagome had always been the kid that intervened in the playground if a child was bullied, and in some respects she almost felt like it was her duty to stand up for those in need since she lacked the common sense or impulse control to actually fear the encounters with the bullies to an appropriate level as others would. Furthermore, Kagome found that she had a deep-seated need to 'fix' people, and to help anyone who appeared to be upset. She couldn't stand to see a person in distress with no one to help them, and though it often got her in trouble she could never quite resist the urge to jump in anyway.

She tried to think about the situation logically. Earlier she had merely tried to speak to one of the women and she almost had her throat ripped out; if she attempted now to approach a volatile and emotionally fragile demon, what would happen to her then? It was best not to interfere, to leave the young demon girl alone to face whatever problems she had without her aid, she likely wouldn't accept it anyway.

She spent several seconds telling herself that it was for the best to leave well alone as she quickly traipsed after the girl, following in the direction she had gone. By the time she had reached the huddle of devastated limbs, alone in a small, slightly wet opening in the cliff-side, Kagome had thoroughly managed to convince herself that following after the girl was the wrong thing to do and that she should remain atop the hillside, relaxing and enjoying the limited time that she could spend outside.

But of course, Kagome had already arrived at the girl's hiding place and had already laid a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. It just wasn't in Kagome to walk away from someone in need of support. The girl was startled by the hand and glanced upwards quickly, and her eyes that were slightly obscured by bangs that were lightly pinked like that of the petals of a delicate rose, were wide and moist with tears. If Kagome had to estimate, she'd say that the girl looked about sixteen…in human years anyway.

'Hi, um, I'm sorry to bother you, but I saw you running earlier and you looked upset.' Kagome began nervously, fully aware that despite the girl's young age, she was more than capable of ending her life, quickly. 'I know there probably isn't anything I can do, and maybe you wouldn't want me to do anything either – me being a disgusting human and all-' she attempted humour with a faltering smile, '-but I'd really like to help if I can.'

The girl looked perplexed, confused perhaps by the fact that Kagome had even followed after her, let alone that she was offering assistance.

'You're that human.' She said in wonder, scanning her face and clothes interestedly.

'Kagome.' She replied, removing her hand from the girl's shoulder and extending it outward in an introductory fashion. For a while, the girl just stared at the hand as if it was some kind of foreign object (she could only imagine what her reaction would be had she presented her with her iPhone), and Kagome began to wonder if she had committed a demon faux pas. Perhaps they didn't shake hands in greeting here, preferring a more violent means of introduction. It certainly wouldn't surprise Kagome, considering the animalistic tendencies that they had displayed during her time here.

Finally, the girl smiled. 'Nami.' She said, and then she shook Kagome's hand.

Kagome took this as an opportunity to sit, heart pounding as she half-expected Nami to use her claws to slit her wrist during the handshake. It would be a stealthy takedown, but not one that would be altogether surprising considering the level of vehemence that these demons seemed to hold for humans. Ignoring the damp, Kagome sat next to her, far enough away so that her arm did not accidentally brush against Nami's, still unsure of the situation, but just close enough so that she could feel the heat emanating from her body against her bare arm.

'I don't mean to pry, but do you want to talk about it?' Kagome enquired amiably. She would not push Nami for an answer for fear of reprisal, but the girl seemed friendly which was a wonderfully refreshing feeling, and Kagome was genuinely concerned.

Nami looked doubtful. 'I…I don't know if I should tell you.' A solitary tear dripped down her cheek, landing mournfully on her thigh.

'I understand if you don't want to, but I'm a really good listener, and, let's face it, who would I tell? Everyone here hates me.' Kagome smiled gently, trying a second attempt to inject humour into the situation in order to put Nami at ease. She ignored the sting at the truth of the words.

Nami returned her smile contemplatively before speaking once again. 'I did something bad. I was with my friends and we were daring each other to do stuff, and when it was my turn Juro dared me to steal my brother's sword.' She paused briefly to sniff regretfully and to clear the sadness from her throat. 'I did it because I didn't want them to make fun of me for being a coward, but my brother's sword is his prized possession – he took it when he defeated one of the demons from the North, and he always talks about how the guy he took it from was his greatest foe and how he beat him. He cherishes that sword more than anything.' She glanced at Kagome briefly with a poignant smile.

'Anyway, when I brought it to everyone, Juro stole it and ran away. I've been trying to get it back from him but he won't give it to me, and every time I ask one of my other friends to help, they just laugh and tell me to relax. If my brother returns from the hunt and finds that it's gone though, he'll kill me. And if something happens to it…' She shuddered.

'Your 'friends' sound like assholes.' Kagome stated candidly. The girl gave a startled laugh at her frank admission. Kagome smiled sheepishly at this. 'Well I'm sorry, but they do.'

The girl nodded her head in agreement. 'They kinda are.'

Kagome bit her bottom lip in thought. There was nothing more that she hated than a bully, and she had already resolved that she would get this girl's sword back for her, consequences be damned. She mused on how to do so – if Nami, a demon much stronger and faster than her, couldn't use her strength or speed to attain it then it would be impossible for Kagome to overpower whoever this 'Juro' kid was and take it from him. Could she ask Kouga? Nami was a member of his pack and he seemed to care an awful lot about their wellbeing from what Kagome had observed even if nothing else, but she doubted whether Kouga would be receptive to the idea of Kagome asking him for a favour, and even less so at the thought of resolving a quibble between kids.

It was all down to Kagome, then.

After a lengthy discussion with Nami and some stealthy reconnaissance, the pair eventually discovered that Nami's so-called 'friends' ended up hiding the sword in the most uninspired of places.

'Underneath his bed?' Kagome asked sceptically with one eyebrow cocked in a fashion not unlike Kouga. 'Really?'

Nami shrugged indifferently. 'He's an idiot.' Was her only response.

'So, does every person that lives in these mountains get their own room?' Kagome had not had the chance to explore any room other than Kouga's, and though the caves seemed to extend over an expansive amount of land with many corridors, rooms and twists and turns, Kagome estimated that there were at least three hundred demons living in the caves and it seemed implausible that each demon could have their own personal space.

'Not exactly.' Nami replied, clutching the sword to her chest tightly, relief visible on the dainty features of her youthful face. 'Those with power like Kouga do, obviously, but quite a few of us have to share. We have our own beds – or at least our own set of furs to sleep on – but share a room with family or friends, though it's usually partitioned off into sections to give us some privacy from each other. There's a surprising amount of people that do have their own rooms though, since there's another cave that falls on our territory that's detached from this one that's primarily used for housing. Most of us have our private chambers there, though we all tend to hang out around the main caves where you've been staying.' As she spoke she ran her fingers along the brass hilt of the sword, tracing the indentations absent-mindedly. 'Most of the chambers are pretty basic and not all of us have proper beds like I said, but wolf demons aren't particularly fussy about that kind of stuff.' A curious light filled her eyes. 'Although, that being said, I have always wanted to see inside Kouga's room. I've heard it's full of treasures and that his bed is huge! Apparently he stole it from some human king or something.'

'Oh, so you haven't seen inside his room?' Kagome asked curiously, Nami spoke of it as if it was some kind of legend, and it piqued her interest. She had been inside Kouga's room and it was no big deal…right?

'Of course not!' Her face was aghast. 'Have you?' Her expression was filled with unadulterated awe now, overcome by the prospect that Kagome had actually seen inside their gallant leader's most private of spaces.

Kagome decided that for now at least it would be best to conceal the truth, as judging by Nami's reaction, being allowed into Kouga's room was a privilege that few were allowed.

'Um, no. Of course not.'

'I've never met anyone who even _knows_ anyone that Kouga's allowed inside his chambers. For a moment there I thought you were talking like you had! Where does Kouga make you sleep, anyway?' The girl inquired now, believing Kagome's not-quite-truth.

Like a blessing bestowed upon Kagome by a demon disguised as an angel, she was saved from answering that particular question by the sound of a derisive voice full of contempt.

'What is that fucking human doing in my chambers?' An adolescent, narrow in frame and not much taller than Kagome with pretty lilac hair spoke in clear disgust.

'Juro!' Nami identified the boy with dread, her eyes large and tentative.

The boy eyed the sword in her hand and his scowl transformed into a smug smirk. 'I knew you were too much of a wimp to actually do something cool. I didn't know you were this pathetic though Nami, having to use a _human_ to help you steal it back.'

Nami was quiet in her defeat, her face downcast and solemn. The boy laughed at her, as what Kagome assumed were the rest of his friends filed into the room to share in his gloating. Other than the brief mention, none of them looked at Kagome, or even acknowledged she existed. It was one thing to have to handle this from fully-grown, adult wolf demons, but to have to tolerate the same from teenagers was just unforgivably degrading.

'For you information, Nami is the only one here who is actually worth anything. You call yourself her friends and yet you pressure her into stealing a sword that you know will get her in trouble, and then you take it yourself? Clearly you're not really her friends, you're just shitty people. Sorry, let me correct myself, you're just awful little brats since you're not even old enough to be considered adults yet.' Kagome fumed at the teenagers, stepping in front of Nami as if to shield her from anymore of their unkind words. The demons' eyes narrowed as one, collectively enraged that a human would even dare to speak, let alone chastise them. Juro regained composure faster than the rest, and, acting as if Kagome was not even in the room (let alone that she had just spoken), quickly dodged behind her and pulled the sword out of Nami's hands. She protested with a cry of surprise, but before even her reflexes would allow her to take back the sword, Juro unsheathed it and promptly snapped it in half.

'Good luck explaining that to your brother.' He laughed scornfully as he threw the pieces at her feet, his laugh only increasing in volume as Nami began to wail. He turned, and as if cue so did the rest. He seemed to be the leader of their little gang, and when he left they all obediently followed.

Kagome crouched down beside the sobbing and quivering girl, and put an arm around her shoulders in a way that she hoped was comforting.

'I'm so sorry Nami,' she began softly, 'I never should have provoked them. Maybe there's a way we could fix it. I might have some glue or something in my backpack…' Kagome let her words trail off as the girl's moans quietened to lamenting sniffles.

'No…it won't work. My brother will know. He's going to be so furious with me Kagome, and it's all my fault. He might never talk to me again.'

'That's not true. He's your brother and he loves you. He might be angry for a while but he'll always forgive you – you're more important than some silly sword.' Kagome attempted a reassuring nudge, but the girl only shook it off before turning her head to meet her large, sea-green eyes with Kagome's own chestnut orbs.

'You don't understand. He cherishes this sword more than anything, sometimes I think more than me. He'll never forgive me for this.'

'Nami!' A large, booming voice called from what seemed to be a distance away, but in the time it took Nami to cry out, 'he's here!' in terror, the imposing figure was already in the doorway, eyes fixed severely on the pieces of broken sword in her hands.

'Nami. What did you do?' The demon's voice was hushed in an intimidating way, and by the way that his unwavering eyes stared at the sword rather than his sister, Kagome was beginning to think that Nami was right in what she said. Nami visibly shrunk into herself, desperately trying to quell the urge to shriek in sorrow and fear.

'I'm sorry,' Kagome found her voice shakily, and the demon whipped his head round to look ferociously at her, as though only just noticing her presence in the room. 'I was the one that broke your sword.' Nami was the one to whip her head round now, wide-eyed and shocked. 'I met Nami earlier, she was upset because some of her friends had stolen your sword, so I offered to help her get it back. When we finally found it here, I insisted that I wanted to look at it and…' Kagome paused briefly, unsure as to how to convince him that it was she who was the culprit, however judging from the venom in his eyes and their natural propensity for hating humans, she didn't think it would take much. '…I started swinging the sword around and even though Nami tried to stop me, it hit the wall and just broke.'

Nami's brother took mere seconds to process what Kagome had said, and, with a clench of the fist, he spoke, 'I'm going to kill you, human', before slamming his clenched hand into the centre of her face.

The pain didn't come at first, and the only real disconcerting part of the attack was the 'pop' that she heard when his fist connected with her nose. Her vision went dark, though she did not lose consciousness, and she found it hard to register what was happening in her surroundings. She thought she heard a scream, and then perhaps footsteps, and then felt a tight grip around her neck as her body was lifted off of the floor, but with her senses dulled and vision spotty this was all speculation. There was a wet sensation dripping from her nose to her mouth and rolling off of her chin, and the centre of her face burned now in a way that was almost strangely pleasant. Another blow collided with the side of her head and suddenly her vision was regained. She could see her lap, her dress, which was covered in a red decoration that Kagome had not remembered it having before. It was as though she had regained all of her senses now, and the burn in her nose was no longer pleasant, instead it was scorching and it ignited her entire body in its flames. Nausea made an unwelcome appearance as the pain intensified, Kagome having never felt anything quite so unbearable before. She saw the demon above her, furious and vengeful, lift his fist into the air again, and she prayed for this blow to grant her the mercy of unconsciousness.

Without warning, the demon was suddenly hurled through the air, flying past her and colliding face-first into the cave wall. In his place stood Kouga, eyes burning almost as much as her body, and Nami a way behind him, a picture of remorse and terror.

'Please don't kill him!' She begged, screaming her words pleadingly. Kill him? Kagome turned her head an inch to look at the demon now picking himself up off of the floor, slow and resigned. Would Kouga kill him? Nami's eyes were terror-stricken.

'You disobeyed my orders, Takeshi. I told you not to touch the girl.' Kouga's voice was even and devoid of emotion. It was clear that he had no intention of letting him live, nor was he particularly upset by the prospect of killing him. In Kouga's world, disobeying orders meant death, and there would be no tears shed for an insubordinate corpse.

'Wait,' Kagome's tried her best to speak clearly, but her speech came out slightly slurred. She attempted to stand clumsily, but as soon as she did her vision began to spin. Undeterred, she forced herself upright, wobbling from foot-to-foot as she attempted to remain vertical. Kouga granted her a moment of his attention, though he was already considering whether to simply beat Takeshi to death or to remove his head for a more merciful and painless end. 'Please don't kill him.'

Kouga was uninterested in whatever reason Kagome had to try and spare Takeshi's life. He willingly disobeyed Kouga, and in Kouga's eyes that made him a traitor. As far as Kouga was concerned, traitors died. He moved towards his prey slowly, but stopped when he felt a frail force cling to his arm in desperation.

'Please don't,' Kagome whispered, 'it was my fault and he doesn't deserve to die for it.'

'He disobeyed my orders, so yes he does.' Kouga responded determinedly, fully intending to make sure that the demon paid for his indiscretions with his life. After all, Kouga had to set an example to make sure that the woman would not come to any harm again, and that nobody would dare disobey him if they valued their ability to continue breathing.

Nami was wailing, as she had been for some time, though Kagome's dampened senses had only just started to register the sound. It tugged at her chest as she contemplated the girl losing her brother and the heartbreak that would bring her. It also strengthened her resolve.

Kouga made to shrug her off, but with renewed strength Kagome clutched onto him tighter. Of course she was not strong enough to subdue him physically however, so she would have to do so verbally.

'You want my help with the jewel shards don't you?' Too busy trying to maintain her grip on his solid arm to meet his eyes, Kagome's voice was nevertheless firm and unwavering. Kouga looked down at her, the biting sting of annoyance beginning to, as it always seemed to do whenever the human was around, grate on his nerves.

'Obviously.' His response was curt.

'Well then if you really want my help, you won't kill him. If you hurt him I refuse to help, no matter what you do to me.' Her eyebrows were furrowed and she spared him a meaningful glance as she got to the end of her sentence, knowing full well that his next response would be that he'd simply force her to obey.

Kouga was conflicted between his desire to kill his insubordinate pack member and his desire to use the girl to find jewel shards. Ordinarily, if a human had tried to threaten him as she did, he would have laughed merrily whilst slicing into Takeshi's throat, and then her own. Knowing this girl however, it seemed that if he wanted her to find jewel shards then he would at least need some vestige of cooperation from her; he was under no illusion that when she said that she would refuse to help, there would be nothing anyone could do to change her mind. He turned his eyes once more to Takeshi who was standing, though he was not trying to run. It was as though he had accepted his fate and knew that there would be no chance of escape, and his eyes were downcast in an almost noble fashion, as if waiting for an honourable death for his disobedience.

Kouga had to admit that when Nami came running to him, eyes awash with tears and face red from panic and screaming Kagome's name, that unfamiliar place in Kouga's chest squeezed tightly before he forced it back into submission. He had analysed that feeling deeply since their encounter on the side of the mountain, and it was with absolute delight that Kouga concluded that he had absolutely no feelings for the silly little human. Though still alien and for the most part unrecognisable to him, it appeared to be a kind of possessiveness that drove him to want the girl safe. He was not averse to killing her when she outgrew her use, but he would not tolerate another being other than himself touching her: he did not want to share. It reminded him of the spinning top that he used to own as a child. It was his favourite toy and though he was aware that one day he would grow old enough to want to throw it away – and he was not opposed to that idea at all – he still did not want anyone else to play with it in the mean time.

With this in mind, it was easy to understand why seeing Kagome's ghastly injury was difficult for him, but not because she had been injured and he was disturbed by this fact, but more so because somebody had dared to touch what was his.

When a group of children had stolen his spinning top, he chased them for an hour before retrieving the toy and pushing them savagely down a large hill. Bones may have been broken, and a detached branch that lay menacingly amongst the foliage on the floor may have gruesomely punctured an eyeball, but wolf demons were used to roughhousing and no permanent harm was done. Now that he was an adult however, he preferred execution to rough and tumble.

It seemed that he was constantly having to choose, never being able to get it exactly his own way when Kagome was around, which was not a feeling that Kouga was fond of. He considered her words and what they would mean for him and his plans.

'Leave.' He barked the order sharply, the command piercing through the air. Takeshi hesitated, confused as to why his death had not yet come, and Nami clutched her hands to her mouth, clearly shocked that their ruthless leader had decided to spare him. 'I said leave, Takeshi. Or are you unmoving simply because you're defying me again?'

Takeshi lurched forward with a start, humbly bowing before his leader and mumbling a painful apology through what looked to be a broken jaw. No sooner had he left, faithful younger sister in tow to treat his injuries, did Kagome's legs give way and her vision turn black; this time losing conscious and not just sight.

* * *

Kagome was roused from an empty sleep that was filled with only darkness and no dreams, to a soft pillowcase and a deeply painful face and head. Resisting the urge to yelp from the sudden bombardment of pain upon her senses, Kagome opened her eyes blearily to find herself staring up at a stone ceiling. She turned her head and lifted her chin, allowing her to see the good old armchair that alerted her that she was back, safe in Kouga's room. Since her head was on a pillow she presumed that she must have been in Kouga's bed, however the mattress was strangely hard and unyielding. And cold.

'Ah, so you're awake are you?' Kouga's grim voice came from somewhere to the side of her. Too fatigued to turn to find him, she instead waited for him to perch down next to her, cloth and pail of water in hand.

Kagome snorted. 'Seriously, dude? I got punched in the face twice, lost consciousness, and you still make me sleep on the floor? With no covers or anything at least?'

'I gave you a pillow.' Kouga shrugged as if that was somehow an appropriate gesture in their current situation.

' _But I'm on the floor.'_ Kagome pressed, disbelieving. She sincerely hoped that he wasn't planning to tend to her wounds himself, as he would probably slap a bandage on her and call it a day if this was the kind of treatment that he offered.

'I didn't want to get blood on my sheets.' He placed a hand behind her head and lifted it up, not exactly gently but not roughly either. With his encouragement Kagome brought herself into a sitting position, wincing when the headache that she did not realise she had made its presence known.

'How are you feeling?' Kouga asked nonchalantly, busying himself by wetting the cloth and applying it to her throbbing nose.

'Ow!' Kagome yelped upon its impact. 'Not so great. I feel like my head got ran over by a truck.'

'A truck?' Kouga's eyebrows crinkled but other than that he did not stop his ministrations, cleaning the blood off of Kagome's face entirely as softly as he could.

'Oh, it's er…just something from my village. It's basically a big car, which is a mode of transportation that we use where I'm from.' Rather than fob Kouga off with the typical 'never mind', she decided to speak of her time, if only to distract her from the pain of his treatment. He hummed his response absent-mindedly; clearly the unfamiliar phrases were not of comprehension to him.

He laid the cloth down and put a single hand on her cheek, turning her head back and forth to admire his handiwork.

'That's all cleaned up. It doesn't need dressing or anything, and I checked you over while you were unconscious so other than a few nasty bruises I think you'll be fine.' He stated, scanning her for any injuries he may have missed.

Kagome brought her hand to her nose gingerly. 'Do you think it's broken?' It was a silly time for vanity, but Kagome panicked briefly at the possibility of a break leaving her with a crooked nose.

'Luckily for you, no. Takeshi probably came pretty damn close to, though.' It was Kagome's turn to hum her response this time, and she rolled her neck around a few times in an attempt to ease the tension in it, before realising how much it aggravated her headache and stopped with a wince. Kouga was looking at her strangely now, and she tilted her head to the side in an unspoken invitation for him to speak.

'Why did you want me to spare his life?' Kouga asked, genuinely curious. Why would a human care if a demon lived? As far as he was aware, the hatred between humans and demons was mutual, and though demons were usually the instigators of aggression, none of the humans that he had come across would ever want to prevent another demon from meeting their demise.

'Because he was Nami's brother, and she would've been devastated if you had killed him.'

'So? That's not your problem.' Kouga pried further, confused and itching to understand her actions.

'What do you mean it's not my problem? If I didn't break the sword then he never would have hit me and you never would have wanted to kill him.' Did he really expect her to have just watched as Kouga killed him, spitefully satisfied that he would pay the ultimate price for harming her? She bit back the urge to vocalise this, and to add on the end that she wasn't like him.

'Did you really break the sword?' Kouga was sharp, and so he was sceptical of this. It seemed implausible for a human to have enough strength to accidentally break a sword made of such strong material.

'Well…no, technically I was covering for Nami, but that's not the point. He didn't deserve to die just because he hit me, and even if he _had_ killed me I still wouldn't have wanted _him_ to be killed. Violence doesn't beget more violence, Kouga. He has a family – or he has Nami at least – and it's not fair to kill him and cause her so much pain because of that. I'm not saying he shouldn't be punished, but I wouldn't be able to bear to watch if he was killed because of me.'

Kouga's frown had only deepened as she spoke, and he was now gravely bewildered. He couldn't understand why a human would go to any length to save the life of a demon that had intended to kill her, nor why she would go so far as to say that she 'couldn't bear' to witness his death.

Kagome sighed; obviously Kouga found her explanation disconcerting and was unable to comprehend her act of compassion. She placed a single hand on his cheek, noting how warm and soft it felt beneath her skin, and watched as his eyes turned from confounded to startled in an instant. It was kind of him to have brought her back to his room and to have cleaned her up, and admittedly she was feeling shaken herself and longed for the reassurance on skin-on-skin contact.

When she spoke, her voice was gentle.

'I don't blame him Kouga. I look around and I want so much to hate all of you, to despise every demon here for how they treat me and look down on me, but I can't. I see how they play and laugh and talk together; how mothers watch their children and how you all seem so…connected. Every single person here has families and friends and people who love them, people that would die for them and that they'd die for in return. No matter how hard I try, I can't get past the good that I see in them; that I even see in you, Kouga.' she caressed his face gently with her thumb, searching his eyes for any indication of what he was thinking. 'I don't agree with the way you treat humans, but from what I've deduced it seems that that mentality has been ingrained into you since birth, and I don't think that that necessarily makes you all bad people. After all, how can you expect someone to learn something that they've never been taught?'

She removed her hand from his face after she had spoken her final word, hand still tingling with the sensation of his heated skin.

Kouga opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it. He had no idea what he would even say. He had kidnapped her, forced her into life-threatening situations, injured her, and his pack had been nothing but vicious to her, and yet still she could see the good in them? She could even see some semblance of good in him, her captor? He wanted to laugh and to scorn her for speaking such ridiculous words, to deride her for even daring to suggest that there was some semblance of humanity in him, but the sound would not come out of his mouth.

That a human would have such compassion and understanding for his kind was far beyond anything he could have expected, and he was left stunned by her admission – almost incomprehensibly so. Humans generally had no interest in even trying to understand demons (other than their weaknesses) and demons themselves returned that sentiment. How could she even feel an iota of compassion towards such a callous and uncaring group of people? She had even touched his face so gently, despite knowing how cruel that he could be to her. Her ability to forgive, her ability to _want_ to forgive demons for their animosity towards her was staggeringly unexpected in a way that Kouga felt in his core.

'You should rest, you need to heal. Take the bed tonight.'

Kagome blinked several times before she replied. 'But where will you sleep?'

'I'll just demand someone give up their bed for me, what's the use of being the leader of the pack after all if you can't order people around and make them give you things?' He spoke through lips that were curled into a wry smile.

'But won't that be kind of suspicious? People are gonna ask why the leader of the pack can't just sleep in his own bed.' Kagome was concerned for his reputation, as if the pack found out that he had willingly given up his bed for a human he might lose credibility or standing. Quite why she even cared about him or his reputation Kagome didn't know, but after coming to her rescue, treating her wounds and offering her this kindness, she felt it wrong to be unconcerned.

'I'm their ruler, I don't have to answer anything.' Kouga shrugged, but Kagome could see that he was troubled by her words.

'That doesn't mean that they won't still talk. It wouldn't feel right to kick you out of your own bed just so that I could sleep there. It's your room after all and you shouldn't have to leave.'

'So…you want to share the bed then?' Kagome giggled in surprise when Kouga wiggled his eyebrows mischievously, almost playfully. If getting pummelled would always lead to Kouga being so courteous and playful, then Kagome would have to try and incite violence against herself more often…well, at least she'd have to try and incite violence against herself _successfully_ more often, since she often pushed Kouga's buttons and somehow escaped relatively unscathed.

'I didn't mean that.' She chided. 'I can just sleep on the floor if you wouldn't mind giving me some blankets this time,' a chastising tone, 'or I could even sleep in the chair.'

'No, you need real rest, not some blankets on a floor or a chair.' Kouga was unmoving on this. Whether she liked it or not, tonight she would sleep in his bed.

Kagome sighed, she had no other option.

'Well I'm certainly not kicking you out of your own room, so fine, we'll sleep in the bed together since it's huge enough for the two of us. But let's be clear, you stay on your side and I'll stay on my side, and don't you even _think_ about trying something with me.' Her finger was pointed long and strict in his face, making it very clear that she would not tolerate any uninvited advances towards her.

Kouga's face screwed itself up as like a crumpled piece of paper. It appeared that despite his recent kindness, he still regarded her to be repulsive. Wonderful.

'No offence, but I have far too high standards to degrade myself by sleeping with a human.' Kouga's pompous voice exuded abhorrence at the thought; he clearly wasn't joking anymore, and he really did think that the thought of sleeping with her was disgusting.

'Offence taken, actually. Surprisingly, people do get offended when someone tells them that they're too far below their standards to ever consider sleeping with.' Kagome stook out her bottom lip moodily. She had never been a particularly vain or superficial person, nor did she feel the need to be found attractive by everybody, but it was particularly insulting when the thought of sleeping with her caused someone to feel so much disgust that they reacted as though she had just asked them to have sex with a dead fish.

'You're a human.' Kouga answered as if that was explanation enough for his disgust.

'And you're a pig.'

Ah, good. For a second there Kouga had become concerned that he was actually beginning to warm to the human, that in some small way she had managed to chip away at some of his loathing for her kind. But no, thankfully it had taken mere seconds for her piss him off yet again and remind him of how much of a relief it'll be when she's outgrown her usefulness, and he got to kill her once and for all.

* * *

 **The end! If you like this chapter, I would love it if you could drop me a review to let me know what you think, both praise and constructive criticism is welcome! Thanks so much for reading and I hope to see you in chapter 5 :) seeya next time guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**When Memories Fade – Chapter 5**

 **Hey guys! So this entire chapter may not be my best work; I'm so ill it's unreal and I've had to write the majority of it in bed, trying not to die. I tried my best to keep it up to my usual standard but in all honesty I've only proof-read it properly once, whereas normally I read it over at least 5 times (and probably still make mistakes LOL). I did what I could not only to write a decent chapter for you guys, but also to update on time, so I'm hoping you still enjoy even if it is a little flawed T^T**

 **It's shorter than usual also (I usually make sure I'm not under 8000 words) because, you know, I'm dying. Have I mentioned that?**

 **One more thing. I basically have the plot for the entire story written up, but if there's something you'd like to see then don't hestitate to ask! One of my lovely reviewers asked for more Sango and Miroku and you know what, originally I was like fuck Sango and Miroku, they're not coming into my story for a good long while. But, you asked and I am more than happy to oblige...with a short appearance of just one of those characters. Hope you like Sango more than Miroku XD**

 **Anyway enough of my babbling, please enjoy, and please review if you do!**

* * *

Kagome held the covers to her chin, unmoving and staring directly at the ceiling. She felt the chilling breeze as the bed sheets were lifted, and then the heat as he slid in beside her. She scooted further away.

Sure, Kouga had said that he would never sleep with her in a million years, but clearly his pack were not all averse to sleeping with humans, and that was enough to make her doubt the integrity of his words.

' _Well, I wouldn't say that that's the_ only _thing she's good for…'_

Those words echoed around her head as she remembered the unsavoury way that he had looked at her, the lust in his eyes and the lascivious smile on his lips. She had no doubt that had he been presented the opportunity, that particular member of Kouga's pack would have taken her, with force if necessary. Though she had fortunately never seen him, she had searched for him each day since then, trying to make sure that she avoided his eyesight, not wanting them to rest upon her for even a second.

Would Kouga change his mind about sleeping with her? Would he suddenly decide in the dead of night to embrace the darkness, allowing it to transform her into a demon that he deemed worthy of his body? The entirety of her went stiff with the thought, and instantly she began to regret her decision to share a bed with him. She considered slipping out it slowly, humbly, mumbling something about her not being worthy to share a bed with the alpha of the pack in order to appease him rather than antagonise or insult.

'Relax.' His voice was rough at the edges. He was displeased. Kagome turned her tentative head to look at him, propped up on his elbow, naked torso shining in the candlelight. His abs were sculpted to perfection, the light shining yellow on each ridge, and his shoulders were broad and masculine. He almost looked like a model, he was that perfect, but at the same time he was also too rough for that. Too rugged and raw, and too severe. To be attracted to him would be to be attracted to danger, and though many a woman would likely fall for the promise of excitement that his form implicitly gave, many men would likely be too intimidated by his overt masculinity to allow him to have a lucrative career in that field. His mouth was drawn into a straight line, though the edges were drooped and unhappy.

'I already told you that I'm not interested in you. Stop looking at me like I'm gonna pounce on you at any second and go to sleep.'

'S-sorry.' Kagome found herself stammering, still perturbed by the situation. Kouga 'humph-ed' and then blew out the last remaining candle, plunging them into darkness.

Kagome could feel her heart beating tirelessly; this was the first time she had ever shared a bed with anyone of the opposite sex. These were not nerves of excitement however, more of dread as Kouga had failed to keep her fretfulness at bay. He sighed agitatedly, before grabbing her shoulder and pulling her until she lay on her side, facing him. She let out a small 'eek', both at the surprise of the move, and due to the pain that the action caused to jolt through her head.

'What can I do to convince you to relax?' He exhaled in a resigned way.

'I am relaxed.' Kagome's voice was high and squeaky.

'Please, I'm a demon. I can hear your heart beating as if it was my own, and there's no way I'll be able to sleep with all that racket. So, what can I do to convince you that I have no interest in touching you? I could list all the things I find unattractive about you if you'd like?'

Kagome's face heated in the dark, and her face set into an angry scowl.

'As tempting as that sounds, no thanks.'

'Then why are you still worried?' He asked exasperatedly. How could he convey to her just how little he was interested in being with her physically?

'Because I don't trust you.' She said, and then as an afterthought: 'Because I know that some of your pack have forced humans to sleep with them.'

'Really? And how do you know that?' He asked. Kagome kept her mouth clamped firmly shut, not wanting to allow _that_ demon to occupy her thoughts for even a second more. Kouga was patient in his silence, and eventually she cracked.

'Because…because a demon suggested that to me when I first got here. He said that being food wasn't 'the only thing I was good for', and the look on his face…' She trailed, suddenly feeling queasy. Out of everything that she had seen and heard in the wolf den so far, that was the thing that stuck with her the most. It was a thought so vile that it made her insides squirm.

'Let me guess; he had black hair, brown eyes, wasn't too much taller than you, and he had a scar going across his face?' Kouga asked, gesticulating with his hands though Kagome could not see the movements in the dark.

Kagome remembered his features vividly. 'Yes.'

'Hm.' He murmured in understanding. 'That would be Shuji. He has a tendency to want to sleep with the humans before they get eaten.'

Kagome fought back the urge to gag at the unconcerned way in which he spoke about the rape and torture of innocent people.

'How can you talk about that as if it doesn't matter? They're people, not just toys. They have feelings and fears and you would just let them be raped by and eaten like they were nothing?' Kagome's voice was bordering on quiet hysteria and her eyes stung in a tearless way. Of course she felt a wrenching sadness for the countless humans who had undoubtedly fell victim to the pack, however reluctantly she had to admit that much of her emotion was for her own predicament. What if the same fate befell her once Kouga grew tired of her? Would she be handed off as a piece of meat to whoever wanted her, before being ripped apart and fed to the wolves?

'I was taught to see humans that way. We all were.' Kouga at least had to decency to sound apologetic at this, and he laid a hand upon her shoulder in a manner that he hoped was comforting rather than intimidating.

Kagome should have shrieked at the contact, should have been scared and begged him not to touch her, but instead she found the contact deeply reassuring. She remembered her own admission from only minutes prior: _'I don't think that makes you all bad people',_ and she calmed some.

She nuzzled her throbbing head gratefully into the deliciously cold pillowcase. 'How do I know that you won't do the same to me?'

'That's Shuji, not me.' He answered swiftly.

She seemed content with his answer. 'How do I know that you won't let them have their way with me?'

'You don't.' He answered again, though he knew this would do little to ease the girl's nerves. 'But I won't. I have no intention of letting any of my pack have you.'

Kagome was surprised at the level of determination in his voice, the edges of it peppered with what sounded like possessiveness.

'Why not?' Surely her ears had mistaken her? What reason had Kouga to be possessive of her?

Kouga found that question difficult to answer, since he wasn't exactly sure why either. All he knew was that the thought of letting Shuji or any of the rest of his pack touch her so intimately turned his stomach in a rather violent way, different from the way that he had felt when he saw Kagome injured and bloodied earlier on.

In fact, his entire outlook felt different than it did earlier. Was it due to what she had said about seeing the good in him? Her understanding and compassion of his kind had certainly floored him, and like it or not he saw her in a different light. He was gentler with her, more kind. To a degree he even admired her ability to forgive those that had wronged her, and there was a warmth to being so close to her that he wasn't accustomed to. As he seemed to have been constantly since he had brought her here, he was rattled by his feelings. He was unsure what they meant, and did not like the way they made him see the girl. He tried desperately to cling onto the vestiges of his disdain – his prejudices were not entirely severed and so he latched onto them, trying to remind himself as to why he hated humans so much in the first place. But what really was the reason for this? Because his parents told him to? His parents had told him a lot of things that he had never bothered to spare a second thought for, so why was this any different? He pushed that thought out of his head quickly; humans were beneath him. They were pathetic and not worthy of his time or emotion.

Still though, he couldn't resist the urge to run a hand along the silky tresses of her hair as he brushed them away from her face tenderly, his enhanced eyesight allowing him vision of her face that she likely did not have of his.

'I know I've given you no reason to, but just trust me, Kagome. I won't let any of them hurt you in any way again.' He spoke her name with ease. He did not intend to use it, but when he did, it felt right.

Kagome winced instinctively at the sound of her name. She remembered how it had sounded the last time he spoke it – so full of hate and disdain. This time however, it sounded pleasant and gentle. It spoke of authenticity and it was genuine; he wanted her to trust him.

And against her better judgement, she did.

She yawned sleepily, heart now beating at a restful rhythm.

'You should sleep now.' Kouga's voice was soft, as he did not want to rouse her from her sleepiness. He knew how important rest was for her wounds since she was human and fragile, and she vocalised her agreement quietly. Within seconds her breathing deepened, and she was asleep.

He lay there for a while, just watching her, not unlike the first time that she had commandeered his bed without his permission. He would let her rest on it again tonight, as just like last time, she had a busy day ahead of her tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning Kagome awoke alone, as she quite often did now. She took the time to survey her latest injuries in Kouga's rather grand mirror that had a vine-like decoration coiling around the glass. Her nose was purple and angry, and the bruise even spread so far across as to give her a slight black eye. The other bruise on her head was almost imperceptible, apart from a light purple dusting just below her hairline. The rest was thankfully hidden under the volume of her thick tresses. Her latest battle scar displeased her as she looked rather a mess, and she did not relish the idea of having the bruises for many weeks until they healed. She knew of a plant that could speed up the process considerably, and she made a mental note to ask Kouga for permission to find it.

She was summoned by Kouga after this, and even he winced slightly upon seeing her blossoming injuries in the unforgiving light of day. Upon her way to eat what she assumed was yet another cut of meat (Kagome made yet another mental note to speak with Kouga about this), she was intercepted by Nami. She gasped, horrified at the sight of her face and bowed her head guiltily before apologising for having gotten Kagome in this mess in the first place. Kagome laughed to acquiesce her guilt; after all she was the one who had voluntarily placed her head on the chopping block by pretending it was she who had broken the sword.

'How did your brother even know where we'd be?' Kagome asked contemplatively. 'We were in Juro's room, not yours.'

'Juro spotted my brother as he was leaving and told him where to find us, apparently.' Nami answered with loathing that was not even remotely veiled. Kagome tilted the corner of her mouth downwards in reply. She supposed that she should have expected that.

'Are your brother's – Takeshi's? – wounds ok?' Kagome was concerned. Though her memory was hazy with pain and shock, she had a very vivid recollection of Takeshi flying face-first into a wall.

'Yes, they're much better today! They're healing nicely!' Nami was excited when she spoke of this, her eyes bright and exuberant. Kagome saw her eyes flicker to her injuries, and the brightness noticeably diminished. 'I wish I could say the same for yours.'

'Well, us humans may not heal as fast as you guys, but give it a while and I'll be good as new.' Kagome assured her with a laugh, not wanting to concern the girl further with just how much her injuries bothered her.

Nami was silent for a number of seconds, a hand poised delicately at her mouth, and teeth nibbling on her fingernails in a troubled fashion.

'I just wanted to say thank you, Kagome. For everything. You didn't have any reason to help me and yet you did, and I don't know how I can ever repay you for that.' She spoke softly, not quite meeting her eyes as she spoke. It was relatively easy for Kagome to deduce that she was feeling rather guilty for harm that Kagome suffered. She opened her mouth to placate the girl, but before she could make a sound, Nami spoke again. 'I know you've already done enough for me, but would you mind answering just one question?'

'Of course.'

'Why did you help me?'

Kagome considered this. There was a list of reasons that she could state as for why she went so far to help the young wolf demon, but in the end she found that the one that was most true was similar to what she had told Kouga.

'Because you're a good person, Nami. And because you seemed like you needed help, and I wanted to help you.' Her answer bought a beaming smile to the young girl's face. Though she had intended to respond, her mouth shut quickly as she caught sight of something over Kagome's shoulder. Kagome, too, turned to look, and saw she was being ushered over by Kouga's right and left-hand men: Ginta and Hakkaku.

* * *

'We were instructed to tell you that you will be leaving soon and to prepare yourself for that. Kouga's orders.' The one with the bleach-white Mohawk spoke as Kagome approached nervously. His voice had a strangely strangled quality to it, almost as if he had been punched in the throat. Kagome almost vocalised this thought, but for once managed to keep a lid on her internal musings.

The other, the one with silver-blue hair that she had saved from a Bird of Paradise, hummed in agreement, and Kagome recalled that he had a much softer intonation – he spoke with a lilt to the voice that was almost endearing.

'Leaving to go where?' She was nervous. Was Kouga finally taking her jewel-shard hunting? What if she couldn't find any shards? Would he kill her if she didn't produce results?

Hakkaku and Ginta merely shrugged.

Kagome found that her appetite had been severely diminished at learning this news, nerves overtaking her stomach, and she politely declined an offer of nourishment by pretending that she had already been satiated.

'How is your shoulder feeling now, Ginta?'

The two boys looked at her in a kind of perplexed silence. 'You know our names?' They answered in unison.

'Of course I do,' Kagome replied with a small, teasing smile. She pointed at each demon in turn, 'you're Ginta, the one who wanted to eat one of my legs; and you're Hakkaku, right? The one who wanted my liver.'

Both demons looked sheepish at this, and while Hakkaku lifted a hand to the nape of his neck in a way that indicated shame, Ginta opted to turn his eyes to the floor in remorse.

'We're uh, we're sorry about that.' Hakkaku was the first to speak. 'It's just that usually when Kouga brings humans to the caves we get to eat them is all, and we were really hungry so-' Hakkaku yelped, cut short by a sharp jab to the ribs from Ginta

Kagome chuckled at this, and offered them a reassuring smile. 'I don't agree with how you treat humans, but I can understand that that's all you've ever been used to. How about we let bygones be bygones and start with a clean slate?'

'I just can't believe that you remembered our names.' Ginta chimed in with wonder, almost as if it were by some kind of magic that Kagome would actually make the effort to acknowledge who they were.

'Why wouldn't I remember them?' Kagome asked with a quirk of the head. Neither of two answered, instead sharing a look that spoke of something that Kagome was not familiar enough with them to understand.

'Thank you for saving me.' Ginta was humble now, which was a far cry from when he and Hakkaku had 'protected' her on the battlefield. It was as if he had read Kagome's mind. 'And we're sorry for how we treated you. Not just when you first arrived, but when Kouga asked us to look after you when we were fighting the Birds of Paradise too.' Hakkaku spoke his apology too. It seemed that the two demons had warmed to her. Kagome accepted graciously, and the three chatted until Kouga approached, face set stoically.

'I thought I told you two idiots to prepare her to leave, not to gossip together like women.' There was a notable difference in Hakkaku and Ginta when he arrived; they stood straighter and listened attentively. Still though, there was an air of camaraderie between them, and Kagome got the feeling that the three were old friends.

'Well, we told her that you wanted to leave with her.' Hakkaku defended, Kouga only sent them a not-entirely-serious warning glance.

'Are you ready?' He turned his attention to Kagome.

'Would it make a difference if I said no?'

He smiled dangerously. 'Not even a little bit.'

* * *

The only reason that Kouga relented and allowed Kagome onto his strong back was because he became too annoyed by the infuriatingly slow pace at which she walked.

'Do you see anything yet?' He asked for the hundredth time as they circled a nearby village. Kouga figured that demons would be drawn to human villages, them being the easy source of food that they were.

'No. I'll tell you when I do. There actually has to _be_ a demon with a jewel shared around for me to sense one you know.' Kagome snapped moodily.

Kouga quirked an eyebrow at her tone. 'Well-' He began, but Kagome interrupted abruptly.

'I sense something. To the west of us.' She pointed, and Kouga took off powerfully, trees and foliage whipping violently in his speed.

The force at which Kouga ran almost took Kagome's breath away, and it was difficult for her to yell for him stop when the presence of the jewel shard was unbearably close. She could feel it; it made the surface of her skin tingle and her hair stand on edge. It was not difficult to see who possessed the jewel shard, it being a large bear demon with tremendous stature, and the fragment being located in his belly. Kagome relayed this information quickly and though the bear's power was amplified by the shard, Kouga still made quick work dispatching him, delivering a swift kick to the head that literally took it clean off.

Kagome squealed at the grotesque sight of sinew and blood, but managed to direct Kouga to the jewel's location in the deceased bear's belly upon Kouga's order. He pulled his hand free from the viscera with a repugnant squelch, blood coating his entire hand and dripping down his wrist as he raised the shard to his eyes and smiled. He wasted no time in implanting it into his left arm, and just like that all four limbs were equipped with overwhelming power.

He turned to look at Kagome, perhaps to congratulate her for managing to actually do something right for once, but when he twisted his body around to meet her reproachful gaze, he made eye contact with only trees and shrubbery. Kagome was gone.

Her legs pumped viciously as she ran, acting upon a spur of the moment decision. If only she could get far away enough that he could not track her, Kagome would be able to return to her time. Then, as far as Kouga would be concerned she would have disappeared, vanished into nothing.

This was an optimistic plan she realised, but there was a human village close by and she prayed that she could find from there how to get back to Kaede's village. She knew deep down that Kouga would catch up to her long before she even left the village that she was currently running to, but hope drove her forward blindly.

She reached the village gasping and panting, hailing the nearest person that she could see: a middle-aged woman carrying a wicker basket full of crops. Through panted breaths Kagome begged for directions, but the woman took one look at her bruised and swollen nose, and another at her form-fitting jeans and shirt, and turned her nose away in disgust.

'I don't associate with whores.' Were the only haughty words that she spoke before continuing on her way. It didn't matter that Kagome wasn't a prostitute; none of the villagers were prepared to listen, even though she explained it many times.

It was at least thirty minutes later before Kouga strolled casually through the village, parting its inhabitants like Moses did the Dead Sea, eliciting from them screams of terror and pleas for their lives. He found Kagome sitting dejectedly atop a large rock, head in hands and eyes full of disappointment. She looked up at him glumly.

'You took a long while to get here.'

'Why bother rushing? You would have no idea where to even go.' His voice was detached and emotionless, just as his face was too.

'I thought I would at least be able to get some directions to my village, but nobody would speak to me.' Now Kagome was even an outcast with her own kind, and she was bitterly disappointed that she allowed herself to become so hopeful over a plan that she knew would fail anyway. Kouga said nothing.

'Are you here to take me back, then?' She spoke after a while of quiet, beginning to grow agitated by his silence.

'No. You wanted to escape so badly that I think I'll leave you here. After all, that is what you wanted.'

Kagome stared at him, incredulous. 'But what about the jewel shards?'

'I have one more thanks to you, that's enough.' His voice was still unnervingly frigid.

'But…these villagers won't even talk to me, let alone give me shelter or food. If you leave me here what am I supposed to do?'

'That, is not my concern.'

'Of course it isn't. Is anything ever your concern? You're despicable, you know that? All you ever do is toy with people. One minute you're threatening to kill them, the next you're telling them you'll let them live so long as they serve a purpose, and _the next_ you're cleaning their wounds like you actually give a damn. Was this all just a game to you?' Kagome raged, suddenly very upset that after all of his threats and vows that she would not be allowed to leave the caves without him, he suddenly wanted to dump her in some village with no way to get home.

'Was it to you?' His voice was on fire, heated and burning. 'I underestimated you, girl. I never expected you to be such a good liar.'

Wide-eyed in her perplexity, Kagome spoke slowly: 'What are you talking about?'

'You tricked me into opening up about my mother, and then said all that crap about 'seeing the good in people'', he spat the words viciously, 'but it was all just an act, wasn't it? A ruse that I pathetically fell for in order to get my guard down so that you could escape.'

''Get you to let your guard down', are you crazy? You've never once let your guard down in front of me! And I'm sorry to disappoint you with my inadequacy Kouga, but I never tricked you into anything. You made sure with your threats and your violence that I was too scared to try anything like that. Everything I said to you was true.' Her tone took on a softer edge on her final sentence, hoping to convince him that she had meant what she had said.

Kouga was unmoved. 'Enough with the lies. Because you're useful to me, I'll give you two options; the first being that you crawl back to my caves. But make no mistake, human, if you choose to come back with me then you will be nothing more than a mere slave. You will obey or you _will_ be killed. Your second option is that you can stay here and freeze to death. The weather may be pleasant in the day, but the nights can be cruel, and none of the humans here will give you shelter.' He raised his voice at the shuddering crowd of gathered humans. 'Or I'll kill every single one of them.'

The villagers were visibly distressed by this, some making throaty vocalisations of terror, and others remaining frozen, petrified into place. Kouga had no real reason to threaten them as they clearly had no intention of helping Kagome in the first place, but it was a spiteful gesture that stung at her chest like an agitated wasp.

'Why are you doing this?' She asked, voice quiet.

'Because you deserve it.' He walked, yet again parting the villagers as he left Kagome to contemplate her fate alone.

* * *

At first she tried half-heartedly to appeal to the villagers, knowing that after their previous treatment of her (and Kouga's threat) that they would have no intention of helping her. After that, she wandered aimlessly, forced from the village by its inhabitants that literally jabbed her with spears and sticks until she left. She liked to think that she had a choice, but deep down she knew that she didn't. If she wanted to live, she would have to return to Kouga. She had no idea where she was or how far away the next nearest village was, and Kouga was right; the nights could be cruel indeed.

She sat by the stream that she had wandered to, glum and alone yet again. A rustle alerted her to a presence and when she turned, heart hammering, she saw a human woman gazing pityingly upon her despondent form. She was pretty, with dark hair fastened at her mid-back and cinnamon eyes that were a touch lighter than Kagome's. In her hand was a basket, and within it was an assortment of fruit.

'This is all I could manage to bring you,' she was apologetic, motioning to the basket in her hands, 'but I wanted to give you something.'

Kagome was silent, her past few days with the wolves causing her to become overly cautious.

'I'm Sango.' She said by way of introduction, crouching down beside her. The name sparked a hint of…something within Kagome that she just couldn't quite place. Come to think of it the woman looked familiar in an odd way, like she was a distant friend from years ago.

'Kagome.' She replied, still scrutinising the woman. 'Is it just me, or does it seem like we've met somewhere before?'

Sango laughed charmingly. 'I thought I was the only one!'

Both began to consider the origin of their familiarity, and both scrunched their faces in displeasure when a shooting jab of pain permeated their skulls.

'I'm so sorry, but I have to get back soon. I wanted to help you, but the villagers would be furious if they knew that I had sought you out. That demon you were with has terrified them; and for good reason.' Sango's eyes were disapproving now.

'I'm so sorry, really. I never meant to cause any trouble. I was just trying to get away and…to be honest I think I hurt his feelings.' The thought occurred to her in the moment, and settled in a way that made absolute sense. They had shared intimate moments together, he had relaxed somewhat around her, she had tried to escape from him, and now his feelings were hurt. The change in him was so imperceptible that she had not seen it, however now that she acknowledged it, it was all she could see as she cycled through her memories of him. She felt a sudden, unrestrained urge to run to him to make amends.

'Feelings? He's a demon.' Sango did not hide her disdain for the creatures. Kagome replied only with a lacklustre smile. 'I wish I could help you though, I feel terrible leaving you here.' She seemed concerned. 'What will you do?'

'I suppose I'll have to return to him.' The answer visibly troubled Sango, but Kagome knew that if Sango tried to protect her, to give her shelter in the village, she would be shunned also. She was lose her home and her livelihood, and Kagome would not allow that to happen to such a caring woman.

After some convincing, Sango bid Kagome farewell and made to leave, however in that brief moment a singular name pushed itself out of the recesses of Kagome's mind.

'Wait!' She cried urgently, 'do you know a man named Miroku?'

Sango was startled, and stopped in place. 'Yes, he's the new monk in town. Do you know him?'

'No…no. I just…the name sounded familiar to me, that's all.' Kagome dipped her head, feeling foolish. It was silly of her to have called out a name that she knew nothing of, though she was intrigued by the fact that such a man existed with that name, and that Sango knew of him.

'Are you sure? Perhaps you're one of his many conquests?' Sango muttered sardonically, the sheen of jealousy present and obvious in her eyes.

'Conquests? Wha-no! Definitely not! It's just a name that sounded familiar to me is all.' Kagome's face was cherry-red with embarrassment. She was certainly not his 'conquest'. Sango's face softened considerably.

'If you get a chance, come back to this village. I'd love to talk to you more, and I'll introduce you to Miroku.' She was walking again. 'And Inuyasha too.'

* * *

Kouga stormed through his den; he would stop for no one. Rage blossomed in his chest inescapably, and it made him want to tear at his own skin just to release some of it. How dare that woman trick him? She had beguiled him with her gentle manner and mournful eyes and forced him to give her just a little of his trust, and then she had betrayed him. He had made it into his chambers blindly, and his eyes fell upon the chair that she had sat upon so defiant and dignified the night that he had thrown her from it. He yanked it upwards viciously, claws tearing into the material as if they were tearing through air, and when it landed it reminded him of her, broken and stunned, so he slashed at it some more.

Furniture did nothing for his itching claws; he was driven purely by instinct now, and he wanted blood. Kouga charged from his chambers with a primal roar that spoke of his need to rip into flesh and sinew, and his pack replied voraciously. Those that accepted his challenge stood as he barrelled into the main cave for socialising, the first of his prey falling with a single swoop.

It was common for wolves to spar when agitated, but Kouga was far beyond that point. Death was a possible consequence of emotionally-charged fighting, and although it happened sparingly, it was often enough that his pack did not enter into a fight with one another lightly. Tonight was different however; death was not merely a possibility, it was an inevitability.

It was this scene then, that Kagome stumbled into. Two demons suspended in the air, held by the neck in Kouga's large fists, another on his back clinging desperately as Kouga shook him like a dog shaking off water. She had made the long trek to the caves alone, eating her fruit cautiously along the way. It was beginning to get dark, and until she happened upon the scene before her, she had felt relief that she had made it to the caves in one piece.

'Kouga?' Her voice was quiet, as though her vocal cords themselves were shocked into submission by his pure, animalistic look of rage. Kouga's face was more severe than she had ever seen it, and with each second that passed it only seemed to grow more wicked. His fangs protruded from his mouth, longer than she ever remembered them being and in a swift movement, he slit the throat of the unfortunate captor in his left hand, the spray of blood that bathed him only sating the tumultuous feeling in his chest partially.

A snap of the neck, and then the other was dead. The demon on his back let go in an instant.

Kouga locked eyes with Kagome and remained that way, his face never decreasing in severity. Kagome had known he was brutal, she thought she had seen it for herself, but never had she been witness to this beast that dwelled within him; and a creature that would needlessly end its own comrades' lives was a sadistic one.

'Come to beg for forgiveness, girl?' He spoke gutturally, and he smiled. His face was crimson, and so were his teeth.

Kagome retreated a few steps, horror-stricken and in complete shock. Faster than she would have thought possible, Kouga was in front of her, pinning her arms to her side and smiling as a fiendish child with a magnifying glass at an ant hill would.

'Kouga…' She repeated his name again as if it was the only thing that she knew how to say. Had she done this? Had her dumb attempt at an escape really cut him so deeply that she had driven him to such perverse rage? 'I'm sorry.' Again she spoke softly, a hand coming to grasp onto his forearm from its place pinned to her side. She yearned for the contact, to touch his skin and to communicate with him her regret. She had not intended to hurt him, and after the previous night she found herself caring about his feelings. He had hidden them well, and scary as it may have been, they were at the surface now, bubbling with anger and upset.

His face shifted painfully for a brief moment, but instantly the mask of fury concealed all other emotions once more.

He repeated an all too familiar sentence: 'Remove your hand, before I remove it for you.' Kagome obliged as if his skin had suddenly turned into white-hot ice.

His pack were cowering, flighty and confused over their leader's sudden homicidal urges. No doubt initially they had thought that he was simply after a brawl, wolf instincts agitating him as was often the case with their kind, and cajoling him into friendly battle. However, with three dead bodies lying on the floor, marinating in their own blood like a steak in béarnaise, this was clearly not the case. Kouga could tell they were an antsy: after all, an unpredictable leader was a dangerous leader. At least it would keep them on their toes, and more willing to follow orders.

'Get out of my sight, girl.' Kagome had been scared of Kouga, afraid of him even in the past, but this was the first time that she could say that she was truly, truly terrified. His face and upper body was awash with crimson and it coloured his teeth like red lipstick marks. His lips alternated from jeering smirks to animalistic snarls, and in fact his entire face portrayed anger; except for his eyes. His eyes betrayed nothing, as dead and emotionless as the three demons on the floor. To Kagome, in that moment as she looked at him, he was a monster.

She turned swiftly, running back the way she came and into the frigid night's air. It did not matter to her that she could freeze to death as the temperature plummeted; the only thing that she was concerned with was having getting as far away from Kouga as possible. Was this really how he reacted when his feelings got hurt? Was it even possible for such a vicious creature to have feelings? After all, clearly he was psychotic.

With each heavy step that she took, the grass crunched anxiously under her feet. She journeyed to the little hole in the wall that she had first met Nami in, but remembering its dampness decided to find different shelter nearby. She did this with relative ease. The shallow cave she stumbled upon offered little warmth, but it did at least protect her from most of the merciless wind outside. She sat, hunched and shivering, content in knowing that Kouga was nowhere near. She opted to stay in the territory of the wolf demons, as she at least knew that it was protected, and she had more chance of survival freezing in a cave than she did alone, in a dark and very much inhabited forest.

When morning came after a sleepless night, the only kindness that she received was in the form of Nami, who had – reminiscent of Sango from the previous day– brought her some food – piling it upon a large leaf – and a single layer of fur. She could not bring more for fear of being shunned or punished, but the gesture itself was enough to bring a tear to Kagome's eye. She hugged the little wolf in emotional gratitude, before urging her to leave. Nami could see the fear in her eyes, and promised Kagome that she would return with information on her new status within the pack.

It was best not to run for now, Nami had said, because there was nothing that Kouga liked more than a game of fetch

* * *

 **Ideally I would have expanded on this and talked more about what Kouga's thinking blah blah blah and ugh, feelings. But, since I'm literally like 2 minutes away from being in a morgue (to nap of course, I hear they're v peaceful), I really couldn't manage it T^T all stuff to look forward to in the next chapter though!**

 **I really hope you enjoyed reading, and if you did I'd love it if you could review and let me know how I did :) see you next time guys!**

 **Side note: are steaks actually _marinated_ in béarnaise? Probably not but fuck it, they are now.  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Guys! I'm back! Well, kinda, ish. I just finished the week from hell. I had 3 law exams and I have my final one next Thursday. This is just a mini-chapter (most of which I did tonight, so sorry if it's not up to my usual standard) to let you guys know that I'm still thinking of you and that I'm looking forward to getting back to writing this story. My next chapter won't be up for a few weeks though unfortunately :(**

 **I also wanted to let you guys know that when a chapter might not be published on time, I update my profile with info about it, letting you know about my progress. I'll continue to do this from now on, so if ever a chapter seems to be taking ages to come out and you're curious, just check my profile!**

 **Also also, I actually have planned this entire story, and reading over my notes I have to wonder why I like hurting Kagome so much. Maybe it's because I find her so annoying in the anime/manga, idk, but seriously, I'm going to have to change some of my plot points coz there's no way that she can get injured the amount that I originally intended her to and just bounce back with no fucks given like I've planned XD**

 **Thank you once again to all my lovely reviewers, readers and supporters, silent or otherwise :)**

 **ONE MORE THING. I don't remember where I said Kouga came from...so...I just said the south. If anyone remembers then please let me know XD**

 **Without further adieu, onto chapter 6 :)**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 6**

It was a conundrum that he faced; he could either keep his eyes open, staring at the barren rock ceiling in frustration and anger, or he could close them and see her. It had been several hours since the last time that he had laid eyes upon the girl, but his heart was still hammering wildly against his chest in indignation. It felt right to be angry at her, he felt like she deserved it, but every time he let his mind wander just for a second he saw the fear on her face, more profound and desperate than it had ever been before, and he saw the regret. Was he perhaps being too harsh on the girl? She was a human, so did it even matter if he was?

She would be cold now. The thought crawled into Kouga's brain like a cockroach and rattled around his thought skittishly. She would be cold now, and he should probably take her some blankets. He didn't know where she was, but it wouldn't be difficult to find her and he should at least give her something to keep her warm. But then he remembered the feeling in the pit of his stomach as he turned to find nothing but empty space, trees and the flame in his cheeks, and his ire returned. Kouga was not used to feeling so much and so intensely, and it was unbearably inescapable. Did this mean that after all he had done to quash and deter it, the human girl really had chipped away at some of his hatred and forced him to care about her in some small way?

He had a sleepless night that was full of questions.

When morning yawned into fruition, Kouga's body was fatigued from a night of intense tossing and turning; and little sleep. She consumed his thoughts like fire consumed a forest. For every second that passed by, he found his enmity slipping away, but still Kouga tried fervently to hold on to the remnants of betrayal. After all, though it wasn't pleasant to feel this way, it was a far less terrifying alternative to allowing himself to feel regret over how he had treated Kagome, and to admit what that meant. So he pushed it aside and reminded himself doubtfully that she had weaselled her way into his trust with deception and duplicity, and then had used that to her advantage.

He decided to bathe in the hot spring adjacent to his chambers to ease the tension in his body, and as he sunk into the water's warm depths, Kouga analysed that sentiment. Had Kagome really deceived him, just to escape? He supposed that if she was talented in her trickery then her actions up until that point would have seemed very genuine, but Kouga just couldn't shake the feeling that it would be impossible for a girl so obtuse to feign such honest emotion. When they sat atop the mountainside, she shared in his recollections of his mother with just as much sadness as he himself held, and when he cleaned her wounds he remembered how she had leaned her head in to his touch just slightly.

Getting from the hot springs to the main caves was all a blur to him, as truthfully Kouga had thought of nothing but Kagome since the previous day. He was snapped out of his reverie with some annoyance, by the sombre faces of his cautious tribe.

'What the hell are you all looking at?' Kouga snapped irritably. They did not reply, merely casting their gazes downwards to the floor.

Ah. The bodies. He had yet to dispose of the members of his pack that he had killed the night before. Their skin was greying now, and their limbs stiff with rigor mortis in a grotesque way. Honestly, Kouga was struggling to care. He had more pressing matters on his mind, and though their deaths were brutal, he wasn't particularly concerned with the bodies of those who were too stupid to understand when not to engage in a fight. Wolf demons sparred regularly, but when the alpha issued a challenge it was customary for the tribe to remain seated in deference until the alpha made his invitation to spar completely clear. Instead, like the brash fools that they turned out to be, they immediately challenged him within seconds. Kouga's actions may be seen by many as unnecessarily harsh, but at least he managed to successfully quash any potential uprisings, and indeed to deter many others from trying the same. To outsiders it may have seemed like brute force ruled in the wolves' caves, but much of it was dominated by politics and leadership, which relied on not only showing strength, but also on sending the right message at the right time.

'Why hasn't anyone cleaned this up? Get them buried and the floors scrubbed immediately.' Still, he would bury them despite their insubordination. They were a part of his tribe, and had his thoughts not been completely occupied by another when he killed them, he may have been less ruthless in his actions. His troops scrambled under his command.

Try as he might, he could not rid himself of the irresistible urge to find Kagome, to at least allow her to explain herself, and so wordlessly he left his men to clean up the mess that he had created.

* * *

Her scent was very much in the air, despite the morning dew that wetted his feet and the moistness of the breeze, which dampened her smell. He followed it somewhat nervously, hating the tension that prodded at his muscles with a grit of his teeth. As he neared her location, the strength of her scent grew considerably, along with the smell of damp. Her night must have been as uncomfortable and restless as his.

He turned a corner, and then he saw her. Dainty hands were wrapped around slender legs pityingly as she curled into herself, a uneaten cut of meat, wet and soggy with condensation by her feet. Kouga had sought her out without really knowing what he was going to say in the first place, but upon actually gazing upon her, any semblance of words escaped him.

He cleared his throat awkwardly.

It was apparent that this frightened the girl as her face propelled upwards, eyes wild. Their gazes locked onto each other for a mere second before panic overtook her and she stood abruptly, backing away from him sideways. He advanced upon her, still at a loss for words. He had no real thought or cognition behind his actions, and though he understood that she was likely frightened of him after the previous night, it was not something that he was consciously thinking of in that moment. He merely acted on instinct; he wanted to be close to her, and so he continued to advance.

Unsurprisingly she ran, but the floor was moist beneath her feet and it was difficult to even keep upright.

' _She's definitely going to trip, humans are clumsy.'_ Was Kouga's last thought before he watched her lose her footing and fall over the edge of the cliff.

* * *

Bark stuck into his arms like a worm trying to burrow under the earth. They created zigzag patterns underneath his skin, and he vaguely acknowledged the healer's advice to pull them out quickly. She intended to do this herself and so he snapped rather viciously at her, saying that this was the fifth time that he had asked her to tend to the human, and if she was unwilling to do so he would relieve her of her status as the tribe's healer violently and find someone else who could obey orders to take her place.

She was unhappy, perhaps even disgusted at having to even touch the human girl, but Kouga's anger was enough to force her to submit. _His_ injuries were unimportant right now. The girl was pallid and her breathing laboured. She had fell, and Kouga had fallen after her, voluntarily, overwhelmed by the sudden desire to save her. He remembered the feeling as he clutched at her clothing, grasping at anything that he could get a hold of, and though he had managed to wrap his hefty body around hers, shielding her from most of the unforgiving ground below, she had still hit her head. She was bleeding, and the healer was begrudgingly stifling the blood flow. Panic was an unwelcome, foreign feeling for Kouga. Mere hours ago he had been furious with the girl, consumed by thoughts of her but at the same time wanting to think nothing of her at all and now, yet again, he was consumed with thoughts of nothing but her.

Guilt.

He had heard of the concept but assumed that it had never applied to him. Kouga didn't feel guilty; he wasn't even sure what that would feel like in the first place, but in that moment as he looked down upon her trembling, battered form he had an inclination as to its nature. The feeling rubbed against his veins grittily, and made his heart beat faster but his blood pump slower in a way that was entirely uncomfortable. He felt his face flush.

'How unbecoming of you Kouga, looking like you're gonna cry over a human.' The sardonic voice of a woman. Kouga did not look at her, but he knew that she would have a hand on her hip in an amusedly judgemental fashion.

'Katsumi.' His voice was gruff and he spoke lowly, hoping that his objectionable emotional turmoil would not be obvious to her. 'I'm not crying.'

'I never said you were,' she smirked happily, 'I just said you looked like you were _going_ to cry. Your face is all red.'

'My face is not red!' Kouga barked, eyes vicious and face snarling, displeased at having been read so easily. He should have expected it however; he had known Katsumi since childhood, she being the only one that accompanied him from what used to be his 'home' in the South. She laughed uproariously at this before moving to him, and wiping her hands across his face as if to try and wipe the crimson from it.

'For a second there I thought your face might be stained from blood, but it's not so I guess you really were crying then.'

'I AM NOT-' He paused. He breathed. He spoke. 'I haven't cried since I was a child.'

'I know. Doesn't mean it's not fun messing with you though. You get so angry.' She laughed once more. Katsumi was shorter than the average woman, and pretty in fierce way. She had a caustic and biting tongue that never ceased to rile and ridicule, and if it wasn't for the fact that she was one of the strongest people he knew, she would surely have been dead by now purely due to her infuriate everyone around her. She shot the healer a look that was wholly unimpressed.

'You. Shoo.' The healer glared back at her but bit her tongue. Everyone knew that Katsumi was stronger than she looked.

'I need her to heal the human.' Kouga's gut clenched in apprehension, though he did his best not to let it show. He was desperate in his desire to keep the girl alive, and his hands were pressed firmly against her forehead in a reflection of this.

'I can take care of her. I've trained with the healers before.' Kouga glanced at her warily. 'Well, I'll be more useful than you at least. Or her. Do you even know how to heal a human?'

'Do you?' He shot back.

'Better than you do.' She smiled reassuringly. As she applied bandages firmly down upon the source of the blood flow.

She was kneeling next to Kouga, and for a brief second he allowed himself to contemplate how exotic demons seemed to be compared to humans. Katsumi's hair was of the deepest amethyst, so absolute in colour that it almost appeared navy, whereas Kagome's was just plain black. It was beautiful still, Kagome's hair, but her eyes were brown and her hair was black, whereas Katsumi's eyes were gold and her hair amethyst. It was a stark and strange comparison. Katsumi laid her hands on the little human, greatly at ease. Katsumi touched her so casually, whereas the healer had only touched Kagome in deep disgust. He had always admired that about Katsumi: she was unconcerned with what others thought and was never afraid to go against general consensus. He had seen her give water to a human child once, though he had never mentioned it before. Back then he had thought it was strange, pathetic even to help such a creature, but now however he understood her motives from back then just that little bit more.

'So what's so great about this girl anyway?' Katsumi asked in a curiously blasé way that only she could pull off. Kouga mumbled something unconvincingly about the jewel shards in reply. For the third time, she laughed at him. 'Don't give me that crap! Ever since you've brought her here all you've done is complain about her, and yet here she is, still alive. She doesn't even seem that useful, and she's _human_ , and a pain in the ass apparently, so what makes her so special that you want to keep her around?'

'She's not special!' Kouga exclaimed, abhorrent in his indignation.

'Sure, that's why you're fawning over her like a sad little puppy, trying to keep her alive.' Just the mention of Kagome's fragile state of being sent a tremor of panic along Kouga's back. 'She'll be fine,' Katsumi reassured quickly, annoyingly accurate in her assessment of Kouga's feelings. 'The bleeding's stopped already, see?' She spoke, lifting the dressing from Kagome's head in demonstration. It had indeed ceased to bleed.

Kouga opened his mouth to speak.

'No jewel shard crap.' Katsumi reminded.

Kouga sighed, resigned. 'I don't know. At first I really did want her for the jewel shards. I was just gonna eat her afterwards or something I guess. Then she was…so fiery and brave. And really, really stupid. She's unlike any human I've ever met, and to be honest I guess I wanted to toy with her.' He struggled with his words; it was difficult to vocalise something that he didn't properly understand himself yet.

'Stupid?' Katsumi questioned.

'It's like she has no filter between her mouth and her brain.' Kouga clarified.

'Ah.' She paused, looking directly at him. 'And now?'

'Now? I don't know. Last night I was so angry and then she fell and…' He trailed off slowly, unsure himself as to what he was even doing here, or why he even cared.

'So last night was to do with her, huh? You know you killed three of the pack. I find it terrifyingly funny that you seem to not even give a shit about that.' Her head was lowered, tending to Kagome, but still she managed to meet his eyes in a seriously quizzical way.

Kouga merely shrugged. 'They shouldn't have tried to fight me.'

'You offered an invitation to spar!'

'Well…not properly. Besides, I was pissed off. They should have learned to read body language better.'

Katsumi always seemed to be laughing, and today was no exception. She was chuckling disbelievingly now, shaking her head from side-to-side. She was not overly perturbed by their deaths; she didn't know them well, and death for the most part was just a part of normal life in wolf demon culture.

'That's not going to be a very popular mind-set to have with the rest of the tribe, you know.'

'Then I'll kill them too.'

She looked at him in consternation. 'Here, you have trees in you.' She plucked one of the branches from his veins and his blood poured free from the wound. He surveyed Kagome worriedly, ignoring the throb where the branch had been. Katsumi had bandaged her and rested her head upon some furs. Her breathing was still shallow, but she appeared more at ease.

'She's fine. I told you, I know how to heal humans.'

'And where exactly did you learn to do that?' He tried to sound uninterestedly sarcastic, hoping his acting skills were proficient enough to allow him to achieve that. In reality, he was curious.

Katsumi lifted her shoulders nonchalantly. 'They're like us, except more delicate.'

'Like us?' Kouga's old prejudices automatically manifested themself in his voice as he snorted pretentiously.

'Are they not?' Was Katsumi's only response. Kouga had no reply. 'Eventually you know, people are going to stop believing that whole 'she can see the jewel shards' bullshit. You should start deciding whether you're prepared to deal with that, and if you're not then you should just drop her off somewhere, back in her village or something. Otherwise, too much time will go by and things will start to get…complicated.' Katsumi always was wise beyond her years.

'I…'

'Think about it. For now, if you want to keep her alive, she needs rest.' Katsumi felt that that was an appropriate time to make her departure. She had a rule; never leave a room without making an impact. Objective fulfilled, she sauntered away slowly, leaving Kouga with nothing but the silence and his confusion.

* * *

It wasn't for three or so days until she opened her eyes. Prior to that, Kouga's concern had turned into full-blown desperation. She needed to drink in order to stay hydrated, and she needed to eat in order to stay nourished, neither of which was achievable when she was unconscious. He was reassured several times by Katsumi throughout the course of the days that this was normal for a human, and as long as her fever was kept to a manageable level and the wound didn't get infected, she would wake up. Still, Kouga was concerned. With demons, if they didn't wake up after a couple of hours then they were dead. It really was as simple as that. But with humans, it seemed like they spent an eternity just hanging on the edge between death and life, able to succumb to either at a moment's notice, almost as if they were unsure as to which way they would swing themselves. It was disconcerting and frankly exhausting to constantly hang in the balance of life and death, and Kouga wasn't even the one in danger of dying.

And then, as if answering his prayers, she opened her eyes. It was morning and the sunlight streamed into them, almost blinding her with its abrasiveness.

'Agh!' Her voice was meek and tired, but at last she finally spoke. Only half-awake, she kept her eyes closed and rolled her neck to the side slightly. Her mouth opened and closed as she mumbled. Kouga leant down to listen to her, happy to hear any words that came out of her mouth. In the moment that she had opened her eyes the relief was so crushingly overwhelming that it was palpable, and he could almost taste it.

He straightened up quickly, brows furrowed and confused. 'Inuyasha?' He repeated after her.

'Hm?' She vocalised, hushed. She opened her eyes once more to look at him, and for a moment her mouth turned upwards warmly.

'What's an Inuyasha? Is it a place?' He had so many thoughts and so many sentiments to tell her, but no discernable idea as to where to start, so instead he focussed on the strange word that she had uttered, pouring all of his frustration and fear into curiosity.

'Inuyasha?' It was Kagome's turn to be confused, that much being evidenced on her face.

'You said that a second ago.'

'I did? Must have been dreaming.' She replied offhandedly. Kouga was surprised. Considering that the last time she had opened her mocha eyes she had been running from him, she was unusually relaxed in his company. It was as if she read his mind, and her body visibly stiffened as her breathing began to accelerate in remembrance.

'Don't panic-' Kouga all but yelled in alarm. '-I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm not.' His voice was hushed now, and he talked to her in the way that he might talk to a baby. Well, he had never actually talked to a baby before or really ever interacted with one, but still, he hoped that it was soothing.

She unstiffened for the most part but the corners of her eyes were crinkled in distrust. Moving must have hurt her head, as she winced and placed her hand on the bandages that adorned it. Then her eyes looked sad. She must have remembered falling.

'I…I'm sorry.' Kouga began genuinely, uneasy and uncomfortable, but almost bursting at the seams in his desire to express his contrition. 'For everything. For getting angry that night, and making you sleep outside alone and…' He couldn't bring himself to say the words, because if he said the words he'd have to remember that she fell, and then he'd have to remember her scream.

She sat up despite some protestation from Kouga, and put a hand on his face, reminiscent of the way that she had touched him the last time he dressed her wounds. He supposed that underneath her bandages she had a new bruise now to add to the others that she had accumulated, and for some reason the thought made him angry.

'I forgive you.'

Kouga and cocked his head to the side like a dog trying to understand its master's command.

'You forgive me?'

'You jumped after me right?' She must have remembered him falling with her, trying desperately to break her fall.

'Yes.'

'You tried to save me. Thank you.' Again she smiled, and smiled warmly. She always seemed to do that, even when he had done nothing to deserve it.

'But I'm the reason you fell in the first place.' It was as though he was trying to convince her to hate him, to convince her that he did not deserve her forgiveness. In a way he supposed that he was – it felt easier to deal with the overwhelming regret if she made him suffer for it.

'I hurt your feelings, and for that I'm sorry too.' Kagome gave him no such respite.

'But-'

'No 'buts'. We're both sorry and we're both forgiven. Let's move on from this, shall we?'

Kouga had nothing to say, his brain working furiously to digest the information laid before him. Why was she always so quick to forgive him? Was he not her kidnapper, the source of all of her distress? Fortunately, he was saved from the task of having to reply by the arrival of Hakkaku and Ginta.

'Hey Kouga, we brought some water and food in case she wakes up-hey! She's awake!' They exclaimed in unison as they saw Kagome alert and upright.

Kagome visibly cringed at the sight of yet more meat. 'I don't mean to be rude, but isn't there anything less…meat-y you can give me?' She held a hand to her mouth delicately as if to hold back nausea.

'You don't want the food?' Kouga asked inquisitively, fully intending to force her to eat if he had too.

'It's not that I don't want food, it's more that I don't want… _that_ food.' All three demons just stared at her, utterly perplexed. 'Humans can't just survive on meat, you know. We need a whole range of different food to get the nutrients we need. Don't you guys have any fruits or vegetables or rice or _something_?'

'Fruits?' Kouga echoed almost in disgust. He failed to see how that would nourish her. Still, she did seem sick at the sight of meat, and she was human so she probably knew what she needed more than he did. 'Hakkaku, Ginta.' They left, needing no further instruction.

'Why do you need that kinda stuff?'

'I told you, humans get their nutrients from eating a variety of things, not just meat.' She held her head in her hands, voice strained.

'Are you ok?' Stabbing panic again.

'Fine,' she began with a taut smile, 'falling off a cliff hurts about as much as you'd expect.'

'Maybe you should get more rest.' Kouga suggested uncertainly, not really sure what a human would need in this situation.

'I'm mostly just hungry.' She laughed with a haphazard smile.

For the first time in three days, Kouga smiled too. For a second he almost allowed himself to contemplate how quickly his emotions had shifted, how strongly Kagome's fall had affected him, but caught himself just in time. For now, that was a box that was best left tightly sealed.

* * *

 **The end! Of this chapter I mean. Like I said, it's just a mini-chapter, but I really feel like we need to start seeing a bit of a change in Kouga. It's only fun to read about him calling her 'pathetic and worthless' for a while, then it just gets depressing :p even though he's started to change a bit though, don't get your hopes up yet, guys. It's inevitable that something is gonna get in the way of his newfound emotions, it's a question of what...**

 **If you like the story I'd love you to review or follow or anything, and until next time guys!~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter! It's a little shorter than I like my chapters to be, but I felt like I had writer's block kind of with this chapter. I don't know how you can get writer's block when you've already planned out the entire story, but I dunno, it just felt difficult to write!**

 **I'm uploading this early as it's been ages since I uploaded my last chapter, but I won't be posting another one this Thursday, which is the day I like to upload on (UK time) for all those who aren't aware of that. Basically, the next chapter will (hopefully) be up on 16th June.**

 **Just as a quick side-note: I really try not to make the characters _too_ OOC, but I just couldn't write Kagome as innocent as she comes off in the anime and in other fanfics too...I'm fairly certain that she's still a virgin in my story (but you never know with all these horny teens these days, amirite?!), but it was far too boring to write about Kagome 'blushing furiously' every time something even vaguely sexual came up. I feel like I've put a western spin on the story anyway, so it seems weird to write about a blushing, virginal, Japanese schoolgirl. **

**I really hope you enjoy this chapter, like I said it was a little bit of a challenge to write for whatever reason, but I hope that that doesn't come across in the actual chapter itself.**

 **As always, thank you so much to all the people who have reviewed, favourited, followed etc. etc. the story. It really means a lot to me to have your support :)**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 7**

Golden eyes with flecks of molten honey; she seemed to dream about them more and more often now. At one point she had even remembered a name, but as quickly as it had entered her thoughts it had exited them, leaving her with nothing but frustration and a distant glimmer of familiarity.

She dreamt of that girl who had given her the fruit sometimes, too.

'We failed to lead a successful hunt earlier,' Hakkaku was sheepish, with a hand rubbing at his neck uncomfortably, 'and so as punishment Kouga said that we had to look after you today.'

'Punishment?' Kagome's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. She was sitting up now, something that she had only been able to accomplish without rapidly developing a splitting headache in the past two days. Her wounds seemed to be mending well and Kouga visited her everyday to tend to them, though most of the time he seemed distant and awkward. She wondered if, still, he was on edge around her because she was a human. Did her presence still disgust him as it had when she had first made his acquaintance?

Before her were a rather dishevelled Hakkaku and Ginta, sitting cross-legged and – unsurprisingly – gnawing on a large leg of meat each as though they hadn't eaten a single morsel in weeks. They both shrugged at her question as if to say 'Kouga's words, not ours', before continuing to happily munch down upon their meal.

Kagome sighed. 'Don't you guys ever get sick of eating that?' Their mouths creaked to a close as they cast their eyes up to meet her own, a look of absolute confusion on their faces. 'I mean, doesn't it get boring eating meat for every meal, everyday?' Their faces were blank with incomprehension. Kagome tried another tactic. 'Don't you at least feel sorry for the little animals? You guys all eat so much meat, don't you think you should try and eat _something_ else every once in a while?'

The room was silent for several long moments, before it was broken by the roar of hysterical laughter.

Evidently not, then.

'Feel sorry for the 'little animals'?!' Ginta choked both on his own laughter and on his food, allowing it to hang distastefully from his mouth as he mimicked Kagome's words. Hakkaku was far too hysterical in his merriment to speak at all, and even Kagome couldn't help but grin at the intensity of their glee. 'Why would we feel sorry for the animals?! What's the point of them being alive if not for us to eat them?'

Kagome's face dropped a fraction; though she fought hard against it, Ginta's words saddened her. 'Is that the way you feel about humans, too?' She didn't mean to ruin the mood, but she couldn't help the way her voice diminished and her head hung. Both boys stopped laughing and exchanged quick, guilty glances.

'Well, I mean…' Ginta began.

'It's not that we think you're _only_ good for food…' Hakkaku expanded.

'You shouldn't think that humans are appropriate to be eaten at all!' She wagged a furious finger in their faces, her sadness turned to anger in a second. The two demons held their hands up to their faces timorously as if to protect themselves from an oncoming blow, before realising that Kagome was not Kouga and that she would not strike them. It seemed that the little human had more than just stubbornness in common with their leader, as her wrath seemed to match his as well.

'We don't mean to upset you Kagome, it's just…' Hakkaku spoke for the both of them, as he often did, trailing off before he had made a complete sentence.

'I know, I know. It's just what you were brought up to believe.' Kagome finished for him. She had said those words many times by now, even stated that she didn't think that the wolves were bad people because of it, but it was upsetting to her to laugh and joke with the demons whilst all the while knowing that they wouldn't hesitate to kill and eat her kin.

'When was the last time the pack ate human meat, anyway?' Kagome asked the question that had been on the tip of her tongue for weeks now, not really convinced that she even wanted to know the answer at all.

Glances were exchanged again.

'Not since you…fell.' Hakkaku answered reluctantly.

'But before then? Since I've been here?' She probed forcefully.

Neither of the two wanted to vocalise the answer to her question, and so there was an impermeable silence for several seconds.

'Once.'

The thought almost made Kagome physically ill. They had eaten human meat right under her nose, while she had been sleeping in their dens, sharing their space, and even…eating their food.

The pit of her stomach clenched tightly, and for a second she was frantic.

'Did I eat it?! Did you feed it to me?!' Kagome's voice was loud and bordered on accusatory, but she was unconcerned with this. If she had unknowingly been duped into consuming something so vile, she didn't know if she would ever be able to forgive a single member of this pack, even if they had nothing to do with it.

Ginta crinkled his nose in distaste.

'No, you were never given any human meat. Kouga made sure of it – he's not that twisted. Some of the others suggested it – they thought it was funny – but he wouldn't allow them to. You didn't eat any human meat, we promise.' Hakkaku nodded his head fervently in agreement. Neither of the inseparable pair were particularly good liars, and so Kagome breathed a sigh of relief at the earnest look on their faces.

'We didn't eat any that time, either.' Ginta chimed again after a momentary pause.

'Why?' Kagome asked curiously.

He shrugged. 'Kouga asked us to make sure that nobody tried to slip you any human meat as a joke since some of them had talked about doing it, and it just felt weird watching over you and eating what could have _been_ you.'

Kagome smiled gratefully at the two. It was a start, at least. Up until her accident Hakkaku and Ginta had been friendly with her, likely out of gratitude for her saving Ginta's life, but after she fell the two had become frequent visitors – along with Nami, and of course Kouga himself. Kagome was unsure if they had kept her company under Kouga's orders or out of their own volition, but either way she didn't really care. She was grateful for the companionship and Kagome found that she had grown fond of the raucous duo.

She let her upset fade from her mind; though not entirely comfortable with what she had been told, she didn't want her sourness to compel the boys to leave as it could be awfully lonely when no one was around and she was left with nothing to do but lay and recover.

From that point on they spent hours laughing and joking, and after some light-hearted begging from Kagome the pair filled a large quantity of time regaling her with top-secret stories of Kouga's seemingly bountiful blunders and mishaps. There was even a rather personal – and excruciatingly embarrassing for him – story involving one of Kouga's many, many sexual exploits that Hakkaku and Ginta delighted in divulging to Kagome, which, despite her best efforts, she couldn't keep herself from laughing uproariously at. The trio quieted after several minutes of laughter, until Kagome made a joke implying that running wasn't the only thing that Kouga was fast at, and they began to convulse with laughter again.

Their merriment only ended when the door of the healer's cabin was swiftly opened, and a girl, tougher than any male wolf demon could ever hope to be, stood with arms and legs crossed casually in the doorway. A single look was all it took for Hakkaku and Ginta to mumble their goodbyes to Kagome, who opened her mouth to protest animatedly before shutting it promptly. She gulped. She had never met this woman before and briefly contemplated screaming for Kouga or for help, not entirely convinced yet that the two were synonymous. What if the woman had come when Kouga was not around in order to put an end to the 'disgusting human' – as she was so often called – once and for all?

The woman approached Kagome slowly, but not cautiously, more curious than anything. She sat directly in front of Kagome's tense form and surveyed her. Her eyes were the colour of fire, and it reminded Kagome of the eyes that she saw in her dreams.

'Katsumi.' She stated.

Kagome pointed at herself, unsurely. 'Me? No-uh, I'm Kagome.'

The woman cocked her head to one side. 'I know that. _I'm_ Katsumi.'

'Oh.' Kagome replied dumbly. 'Ok…then?' She was unsure how to respond as she was not used to introductions, or even demons being willing to talk to her at all in this place.

'Is that all you have to say?' She laughed as she continued her perusal of Kagome's person, observing her as if she was an animal in a zoo performing trick for her amusement.

'I…it's nice to meet you?' Again, Kagome was lost for words.

'Is that a question?'

Her constant prodding was grating, and as it often did, Kagome's temper got the better of her.

'Well I'm sorry, but you come in here and usher Hakkaku and Ginta out when we were chatting and enjoying ourselves, and then you sit and stare at me like I'm some freak in a circus before making fun of everything I say. I don't really know if it is nice to meet you to be honest, _Katsumi_.'

'...Circus?' Katsumi responded, unconcerned with the rest if Kagome's tirade.

Kagome pinched the bridge of her nose; Kouga did that too.

'Nothing, forget I said anything.'

'Hm. Well. Nice meeting you, Kagome. I'll come visit you again soon.' It sounded more like a threat than a promise.

'Wait!' Kagome called out instinctively, before cursing herself for doing so but speaking once more, anyway since she had already caught the woman's attention. 'You're leaving already?'

The strange woman – Katsumi – merely hummed in response.

'Yup. I just wanted to get a good look at the human that Kouga's all strung up about.'

'Wha-Kouga? Strung up about me? As if.' Kagome replied sullenly. She almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. She had thought (perhaps even hoped) when she had awoken that Kouga seemed concerned for her, but his distant attitude towards her over the preceding days only served to make Kagome feel even more isolated from him.

Katsumi's face lit up with a knowing smile. 'You'll see.' She giggled, before leaving the room.

Kagome was briefly stunned by the strange woman's abrupt entrance and even more abrupt exit, until annoyance set in. The sun had only just receded behind the skyline a while ago, setting in a brilliant blast of orange-purple, meaning that Kagome would likely spend the next few hours alone since Hakkaku and Ginta had been chased off. Kagome 'humph'ed' petulantly before she pulled the furs covering her past her ears and over her head. She supposed that she had no other choice than to idle the time away until somebody else came to visit.

 **Oooooooo**

It was well into nightfall before Kouga came to her.

Sleep had overcome Kagome several times since Katsumi's departure, but her still-tender ribs made a peaceful sleep near impossible, as every time she would jostle too roughly she would be awoken by a sharp pang in her side. She was dozing, her eyes fluttering open and closed slowly as she drifted between the lands of rest and wakefulness when Kouga entered, eyes scanning the darkened room for her immediately.

He let out a breath that he was unaware he was holding when he saw her curled up as best as she could given her injuries on the makeshift bed. For some reason, every time he entered the room he feared that he would get inside and she would be gone, disappeared or vanished into nothingness. It was not a pleasant feeling, and it made him want to cling to her, but the unavoidable concern that he felt for the girl that grew stronger in her presence was unpleasant too, and therefore he had so far kept his distance from her when possible.

He hesitated, unsure as to whether she was asleep or awake.

'Kagome?' He whispered, loud enough for her diminished human hearing to pick up on, but quiet enough so as not to wake her.

'Hmm?' She replied sleepily with no real understanding of whom she was even answering in her only semi-lucid state.

'How you feeling?' Kouga asked, his voice remaining hushed so as not to rouse her too much.

'Cold.' She responded with a yawn.

'Probably because you kicked all of the furs off again.' His tone was chastising, like a disapproving mother.

She seemed to have read his mind. 'Sorry, mum.' She grumbled wearily. This irritated him and he stomped towards her before yanking the furs with restrained force right up to her nose. Kagome grumbled, opening her eyes to glare for a few seconds until the strain of keeping them open became too much and she acquiesced, lowering her eyelids gently so that her long lashes swept across the tops of her cheekbones prettily.

Against his better judgement, Kouga found himself lying down beside her. Kagome slept on a bed made of thick, fluffy furs that were mahogany in colour and that were laid on the floor, rather than on a bed and mattress. Kouga lay beside the furs, on the stone floor that chilled him to his bones. Unsurprisingly, the stone was inflexible and solid, and within seconds its jagged design made his head throb.

'Kagome?' His voice was still soft, probing gently for signs of wakefulness.

'Hmm?' She hummed in response again.

'I'm sorry…for making you sleep on the floor all those times.' His voice was genuinely regretful. 'It really sucks.' He watched her lips turn at the corners in a delicate smile. She murmured her agreement.

'Yes, it does,' she replied, pulling the furs upwards and away from her body lazily, 'so get in.'

Kouga propped himself onto his elbow as he, in typical Kouga fashion, quirked an eyebrow upwards.

'You want me to get in bed with you?' He asked, unamused.

Kagome opened one eye sleepily, but with enough conviction to portray her sarcasm effectively.

'Oh right, because we haven't slept in the same bed before or anything.'

Seconds ticked by. 'Damn, yeah. I forgot about that.' Kouga responded simply.

Kagome exhaled as she replied; 'How could you have forgotten about tha-' Before being cut off as Kouga launched himself into the bed, surprisingly gentle as he moved her to the other edge of the furs before claiming the top fur as his own covering and stealing it from her completely.

He interjected before she could protest. 'I don't do sharing.'

'Hey, I'm the one that's injured here, you know.' Before Kagome had even begun her retort, Kouga was already returning the limited source of warmth to her, wrapping her delicately within their confines. Still she shivered, however, and so after a moment's deliberation he enveloped her in tentative arms and pulled her to him. It was an alien feeling for him, to be so concerned over another creature – particularly one so weak – and he opted to push all thoughts of it out of his mind for the time being.

Kagome was unsure how to react, his actions being so sudden and surprising. His body was a cocoon of warmth and so, try as she might, she couldn't work up the strength to object.

'You're being uncharacteristically nice tonight.' Kagome grumbled sulkily. More and more, Kagome had found herself yearning for Kouga's kind words and kinder actions, and it was both disconcerting and frustrating to her. Though she would rather not admit it, it seemed that she had become attached to Kouga in a way, and, when he was not being awful, she even enjoyed his company. Though still sparing, these occasions of sentiment grew slowly more frequent, and it was with genuine happiness that Kagome noted that Kouga's insults and maltreatment of her grew rarer.

'Well, it was my fault you fell off the cliff so I guess I owe you a few days of kindness.'

'But you saved me, and apologised, and I already forgave you. I think that makes us even.'

'Maybe I should let go, then.' He mumbled unconvincingly.

She shook her head against his shoulder. 'You're warm.'

'You should be worried that I'm hugging you in the first place, you know. Just because I'm demon doesn't mean that I'm not still a man.' He chided gently, wondering if she would allow herself to be held like this by anyone else. The thought unsettled him.

Kagome snorted.

'You've already made it perfectly clear how hideous you think I am, so why should I be worried at all?' Her voice was high and childish; his revulsion stung.

The air was pregnant with silence as her words hung between them, and Kagome could almost hear Kouga's brain working.

'Good point,' he acquiesced uncertainly, 'I guess you have nothing to worry about.'

A further silence.

'I never said you were hideous.'

'You once asked me if I wanted you to 'list all the things you find unattractive about me." She replied immediately.

'Exactly. I said you were unattractive, not hideous.' This infuriated Kagome more, and she attempted to bite her tongue, managing to do so successfully for at least two whole seconds.

'So you don't find anything about me attractive?' She probed irately.

'Do you want me to find something about you attractive?'

'No! Well…yes…no! Well…kind of, I guess.' Her response was a jumbled cacophony of words, and Kouga did not even bother to respond to it, instead waiting frustratingly silently for her to clarify. 'I mean…nobody wants to be thought of as unattractive.'

'Do you think I'm attractive?' Kouga inquired after a moment of further contemplation.

'Yea-no! God no.' Kagome huffed, unendingly grateful that Kouga's eyes were still closed so that he would be unable to see her flaming cheeks. This time it was his turn to smile lazily.

'Liar.'

'I am not! I think you're gross. Really.'

'Please. Not only do I know I'm a God, but also you're blushing. Kind of a tell.' He proclaimed, peering at her from under his eyelashes.

'Your eyes are closed, you can't see my cheeks.' She insisted with a surprising amount of conviction.

'Then how do I know that your cheeks are all red?'

'You don't.'

Kouga chuckled lightly, entertained by her silliness. It was jarring to acknowledge that it had only been mere weeks since she had arrived here: it felt more like months. Kouga had his arms encircled around her loosely, and though he should have been repulsed by her proximity to him – and he should have never willingly let himself get this close to her in the first place – he felt oddly at ease. Despite the fact that she had called him 'gross', a clear mockery that would usually be swiftly punished, he had no desire to hurt the girl, and instead took a strange delight in her wilful insubordination. He had avoided her up until now when he could, and kept his days busy in order to distract himself from his unsettling thoughts, but even without any contemplation over the matter he could see that he had become fond of the girl. She no longer irritated him (too much) with her defiance, and he had come to rather like that trait of hers; though once infuriating, he had now grown to find it refreshing in a cave full of wolves who feared and obeyed him.

Kagome shifted, restless in her impatience for conversation to resume.

'I don't think you're unattractive, Kagome.' He spoke finally, acceding to her wishes. The use of her name sent an unexpected and unfamiliar chill along her spine. It was strangely warm. 'I think you're a human which automatically makes you a little 'gross," he mimicked her expression from earlier sarcastically, 'but you're not unattractive. If you were a wolf demon, I'd definitely have sex with you.'

She struggled to find her words in shock.

'Did you really just say that? Like, did you actually just really say that?'

'Sure, why not? Like I said, you're not _hideous_. I suppose you're actually pretty decent…for a human.'

'Hold on, what makes you think I'd want to have sex with _you_?' She cried, outraged by the fact that he seemed to think that she would willingly throw herself at him if he was ever so inclined to have her.

'Because I'm a God, I told you that already. Why wouldn't you want to sleep with me?'

Her mouth fell open at the sheer and unabashed hubris of the man whose arms she currently inhabited, with an audible 'pop'. He lifted his eyelids, the eyes beneath them fiercely blue and sparkling in amusement.

'Getting in some practice already?' His laughter was barely contained. Kagome raised her arm back and struck at his chest as hard as she could, feigning fury rather unsuccessfully through her smile out of principle more than anything else.

'I can't believe how much of a pig you are. Honestly, it astounds me.'

'You want me to leave then?' He smirked smugly, knowing how cold she was before he arrived.

Defeated and voice small, she replied: 'No.'

'Then be a good little girl and go to sleep.' As per usual she opened her mouth to respond, but this time she was cut off by a single finger pressed against her lips and an exhale of hair coming from between clenched teeth. Begrudgingly, she settled, and for the first night in a long time, she slept soundly and completely until morning.

 **Oooooo**

'You smell bad.' He stated in an indelicate and insensitive manner.

It was again just after sunset the following day, and Kagome had spent most of her time since arising in the morning watching the world outside from the small 'window' of the healer's cabin. The 'window' that she had spent the day in front of was nothing more than a hole in the wall, covered by furs that she assumed were meant to act as makeshift curtain. It was evident now why the nights that she had spent in the cabin had been so cold.

'Well-! How would you smell if you fell off a cliff and then spent a week too injured to bathe?' She cried, offended deeply by his assertions and more than a little embarrassed. He shrugged haphazardly in reply.

'I did fall off a cliff.' He spoke. And then: 'I'm a man, it's unbecoming of a woman to smell that way. You need a bath.'

'That's sexist.' She huffed, cutting him off quickly as she recognised the tell-tale signs of confusion as he cocked his head to the side. 'But a bath would be nice.'

He helped her to rise slowly, her muscles aching as she stood due to lack of use over the past few days. She had bathed in the hot springs many times, in Kouga's own personal hot springs even, since she had arrived in the wolf den. It seemed that even Kouga thought that humans deserved some semblance of dignity…or maybe he just couldn't tolerate the smell of an unwashed body. Either way, she had bathed daily and the lack of hygiene in her present state made her feel itchy and uncomfortable. She hobbled eagerly to her source of cleanliness, only slowing every now and then when Kouga scolded her for trying to walk too fast.

They arrived in the vast, steamy cave, and Kagome always felt like she was in a sauna every time she entered. It was a relaxing place, and one of the only areas in the cave where she felt safe. She turned and looked at Kouga expectantly.

He looked back.

'So…strip?' He broke the silence after it dragged on for too long. What was she waiting for?

Instantly her face dropped, and she blinked in incomprehension.

'Um…leave?' She responded in as many syllables.

'I don't think so. Knowing my luck if I leave you here alone you'll end up drowning.' His arms were folded in finality.

'You. Are. Not. Staying. Here.' She hissed through clenched teeth, bringing her face as close as possible to his despite their height difference, in a manner that she hoped was threatening.

'Yes. I. Am.' He repeated, staccato like she had, but more amused than anything else. 'I already told you I'm not interested in you, so what's the big deal? I'll just turn away or whatever. I won't even be able to see anything when you're in the water.'

'Hell no! You'll peek at me.'

'Why would I wanna do that?' He replied, insultingly abhorred by the accusation. 'I'm not interested in seeing you naked.' He honestly wasn't; his newfound fondness for the girl didn't make her _that_ much more appealing to him.

Kagome felt like throwing something at him, but there was nothing to throw other than her clothes – and quite frankly she would have rather drank acid. He was stubborn, and a million times stronger than her, and she could tell that he would not leave. She could see from the honesty on his face that he meant what he said however; he really did have no interest in seeing her naked, and so equal parts reassured and insulted, she shooed him behind one of the rocky pillars that blocked her lithe form from view, ensuring that his back was turned before she began to remove her clothing.

She knew that with his superior demon hearing that he would be able to hear each rustle and click, each individual movement as she undressed.

'Aren't you at least a little bit tempted to look?' She asked, fully aware that she was dancing dangerously close to fire.

'No.' His answer was definite. His surety incensed Kagome greatly, and she grumbled low in her throat in frustration, splashing haughtily as she sank into the water a little too roughly for her sore ribs. She winced.

Hearing that she had entered the depths of the heated waters, Kouga emerged from behind the pillar shielding her from him. Even though the water covered her completely from his view, Kagome's cheeks still flushed.

'Did you just growl at me?' He asked her incredulously.

'It's not exactly fun being called unattractive all the time you know.' She replied, feeling too scorned to even dignify Kouga with eye contact.

'I told you last night that I don't think you're unattractive.'

'That's not the point. Even if you don't find me unattractive, you must not think much of me to not even be a _little_ tempted to peek.'

Kouga's brain pumped rapidly, working overtime as he tried to understand the source of the irate little human's contention.

'So, let me get this straight, you want me to want to see you naked?' He held his hands to his head as if that would somehow bring him clarity.

'NO!' She screeched, mortified. Kagome definitely didn't want to give him the _that_ idea.

'Then what is it that you want from me?!' He practically yelled back, the complexity of her aggravation eliciting a strong response from him.

'It's just…ever since I met you I've felt like you've thought of me as nothing more than some kind of disgusting insect, and just because you say that you don't necessarily think that I'm 'unattractive' anymore doesn't mean that I feel any differently. It's just not a nice feeling, is all.'

Kouga listened intently, beginning to understand at least to some degree her anger. There was little he could say to put her at ease however, he couldn't help how he viewed the girl and his shrug reflected that. Kagome sighed, unsatisfied, and rotated away from him as she bathed in moody silence.

Several minutes passed.

'I mean I could always get in with you. Maybe then I'd be more in the mood to look at you naked-' He started before being cut off with a shriek.

'GO AND WAIT OUTSIDE!'

 **oooooo**

After furiously refusing Kouga's offer to help her dress herself, Kagome emerged from the hot springs a vision of renewed energy.

'Well, you definitely look better now.' He commented on her new demeanour, happy to see that she seemed less like she had fallen off of a cliff and more like she had taken a tumble down a hill. She wasn't back to full health, that much was visible, but a warm bath seemed to have done her a lot of good.

'Yeah, baths always make me feel better when I'm sick. I always take one when I'm not feeling well back home-' Her neck snapped downwards suddenly as the words unconsciously escaped her mouth. Kouga looked at her; her head was bowed.

'Do you want to go home?' He asked quietly, discomforted by the idea. She slowly raised her head upwards to meet his gaze, and she searched his eyes with her own as if trying to judge his temperament, unsure whether to speak.

'I miss my family.' She spoke eventually. 'And I'm sure they miss me, too.'

'So you want to leave?' Kouga wasn't certain whether he was upset or angry, and he was surprised by this. Of course the human that he kidnapped would want to go home rather than stay, kidnapped in his den. Why did hearing her say it affect him so deeply?

'It's not you,' she hurried to clear up any misunderstanding, 'now that you've actually stopped threatening to kill me and started being semi-nice to me sometimes, I actually surprisingly do like being around you. The thing is, I don't feel safe here. Every time you're not by my side I'm constantly terrified that someone will hurt me or even kill me, just for being in their presence. It's exhausting living somewhere where I'm constantly in fear for my life.'

'But even if that wasn't the case, I'd still want to go home and see my family again and to let them know that I'm ok. I'm not usually away from home for quite this long and I'm afraid that _they're_ afraid that I've been hurt, or worse.' She looked down at herself, grinning slightly in a poignantly sad way. 'Which I guess is kind of true.'

For the longest of whiles, Kouga simply looked at her, holding her gaze until eventually she dropped her head in unease. He was disturbingly quieted during this time and so unmoving in his stillness that Kagome couldn't decide whether she had offended him and should beg for forgiveness, or whether to simply shuffle out of the room awkwardly and maybe check back in a couple of hours to see if he was still standing there quietly.

As it turns out, she did none of the above, instead opting to remain glued to her spot, studying the patterns of his armour over and over again as she waited for him to speak.

'I'll take you home.' Were the words that broke the silence, and they were not words Kagome expected to ever hear him say.

'Really?!' She exclaimed, practically bouncing with excitement. A quick grimace was the only tell that Kouga gave, and Kagome appeared too delighted to notice. It hurt that she was so eager to leave his caves. To leave him.

'In the morning.' He agreed dully, further agitated by the beaming smile fixed brightly upon her face. She could at least act a little upset at the prospect of leaving.

Kagome was yammering far too much to notice Kouga's disquiet as they traipsed out of the hot springs, Kouga dragging her in the correct direction when he had decided to take her back to his chambers rather than the healer's cabin. She settled herself upon his bed lackadaisically, spreading her body out across its wide expanse as if it belonged to her, seemingly unconcerned at that moment by her injuries. Kouga sat glumly on the same armchair that he had sat, silently seething, on the first night of Kagome's arrival.

After several minutes of rushed talk of her family and of her home, Kagome finally noticed his silence.

'I'm surprised you're not pissed that I'm on your bed.' She prompted kindly, feeling a rush of affection towards the wolf that had promised to finally take her home. If she hadn't been so ecstatic, she most likely would have reflected on these feelings; after all, Kouga had kidnapped her against her will in the first place and so it seemed odd that she would feel grateful that he was finally returning her to her home.

'You can have it.' He shrugged and leaned backwards moodily, avoiding her eye. He was unable to shake the cold feeling of bitterness that enveloped him, even though he realised that he was acting like a sullen child.

'What's wrong?' Her brow crinkled as her body inched closer to his form marginally on the bed. Her concern did little to assuage him.

'Nothing.' He sighed loudly before he spoke, finding it difficult to muster up the energy to speak in the first place. He simply wanted to wallow in silence.

Kagome granted him this for a while, watching him with unwavering eyes.

'Kouga, are you…sad that I'm going to be leaving?' She spoke in cautious wonder. She had not even considered the possibility that Kouga would not want her to leave, though the twitch of his face in response to her question confirmed this. Dumbfounded, she was unsure what to say. How is one supposed to respond to something like this? Up until recently, Kouga had been undecided as to whether he wanted to eat her now or eat her later, and it was rather jarring to discover that his affection for her had grown to the extent that he did not want her to leave.

'Well…I could come back?' It was a question rather than a statement, and Kagome wasn't quite sure what made her ask it in the first place. Perhaps it was the desolate look upon his face, or her gratitude for his having saved her life, however in that moment she suddenly very much wanted to reassure Kouga. She wanted to see him grin the same, sarcastic grin that he often reserved for her, and she even wanted him to taunt her as per usual if it would mean that he was no longer upset.

'I don't need you to try and appease me, human.' Kouga spat with only enough conviction to sound glum and morose. Kagome tightened her mouth into a line that didn't quite believe his words, scoffing in a way that echoed this.

He opened his mouth to speak once more, but the words clung desperately to his throat, tearing and clawing just to get a foothold. Kouga had begrudgingly accepted over the past few days that he had developed _some_ feelings for the girl, but it seemed that his body still fought the revelation every step of the way.

'I don't need you to appease me,' he reiterated, throat raw with the effort of vocalising the words, 'but you can still come back if you want to.' The smile that the girl gave him was enough to sate his resentment over her previous excitement, and he even felt a small smile of his own tug at his lips.

'How about you take me home, and then you pick me back up in five or so days?' He contemplated, and then he nodded. In the back of her mind, Kagome registered some slight concern as to how she would actually _get_ home (i.e. jumping through a magical well that transported her five hundred years into the future) without some serious questions being asked, though this was only a minor worry. She was sure that she would be able to convince Kouga to drop her off on the outskirts of Kaede's village, and she could easily make up an excuse that encouraged Kouga to leave by claiming that if he was to be seen with her the villagers would shun her for being affiliated with a demon…or something like that.

It seemed that a better question to ask was whether Kagome actually wanted to come back in the first place. It was not a question that had an easy answer, and for now Kagome was content to remain blissfully undecided. If she concluded that she didn't want to return with Kouga, she could always take an extended break back home, waiting long enough for him to have given up waiting for her and left. Cruel as it was, the thought comforted her, reassuring her that she would not have to make a decision about it just yet.

She yawned, and a sharp stab of pain accompanied it. It seemed as though Kagome had exerted herself – she had certainly been more active during the course of the day than she had at all since her fall – and she decided that a good night's rest was in order.

'I'm tired.' Kagome stated rather pointlessly, hoping to elicit a reaction out of Kouga who instead merely waved a wand uninterestedly as if to say 'so sleep, then'. His answer was unsatisfactory, and so she followed this with: Aren't you going to get into bed?'

'You can have it.' He repeated his earlier statement.

'Are you sure? It's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before.' She repeated hers from the night before, curious as to his reasoning.

He turned to face her head-on, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

'You want me to get in bed with you?' He asked, again reiterating words that he had already spoken the night previous, but in an entirely different way. There was a sinister glint in his eyes that had been absent before, and it rattled Kagome immensely. Suddenly, she found herself thinking about Kouga's allure. Kagome had begrudgingly marvelled countless times at his masculine beauty, but this always came with a sense of caution. One could never be quite sure when a wolf would strike, and for a fleeting moment she imagined what it would be like to sleep with Kouga. The thought perturbed her as she looked into his wicked eyes, and she contemplated allowing herself to be exposed to such a ferocious animal in her most vulnerable state, coming to the conclusion that if she were to do such a thing, it would most likely end in tragedy. After all, a kiss wasn't too dissimilar from a bite, and Kagome had a feeling that Kouga had done plenty of both.

Then again, he was a wolf demon, and though the thought of sleeping with such a powerful and unrestrained creature was terrifying for Kagome, presumably all of Kouga's previous conquests had been wolf demons too, and maybe they liked it that way.

She shuddered, trying to mask the involuntary shiver from his view.

'Maybe I'll just get in bed-' She began, and Kouga began to advance upon her, grinning menacingly, '-alone.' She finished. He retreated back with a satisfied smirk. Then, he closed his eyes and said nothing more to her for the rest of the night. She called his name several times in the following minutes, but upon receiving no answer, she too, closed hers.

* * *

 **Things are happening, guys. Things and stuff. Kouga has is...feeling things *shudder*, Kagome is making sex jokes at his expense, things are happening. Will it last? Probably not tbh, I guess we'll find that out the next time I start to vomit words onto my laptop.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I would love it if you could review, or favourite or whatever the story :) thanks so much, and until next time guys!~**

 **Oh, also, sorry if there were a a few typos or anything, I proof read about three times but I've been busy and so I might have missed a few things :p**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! So sorry that this chapter has taken longer to update, I've been pretty busy. In a nutshell: I visited London for a few weeks in June, during July I had some family stuff that I took my attention, and it was my birthday a few days ago and I spent the whole weekend celebrating (because why celebrate your birthday for one day when you can celebrate it for three? :p). Really sadly though my Syrian hamster, Amelie, died the day after my birthday so I've been really upset about that, and my mum, as kind as she is decided to surprise me with a new Russian dwarf hamster who I named Simba. Obviously it doesn't make me any less sad because my other hamster was like a part of the family (and anyone who's had a hamster understands how attached to them you can really get!), but I'm really excited to have a new little baby boy to tame and play with.**

 **Honestly guys, he's only 4 weeks old and he is the absolute cutest thing I've ever seen. Apart from me of course, I'm obviously the cutest ;). And my dogs are alright too, I suppose.**

 **But I have been pretty busy with everything, and that's the reason why it's taken over a month! I'll really try hard to be much more prompt with the next update :p I hope this chapter was worth the wait, please enjoy!**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 8**

She was feeling optimistic. Although she was trying to be mindful that she didn't exude an _overwhelming_ amount of enthusiasm in light of her conversation with Kouga the night before, Kagome couldn't help but wake up with a beaming smile.

Today, Kagome was unaffected by her usual trepidation or caution and did not waste time hesitating, stepping out of Kouga's chambers gleefully and turning round a corner in order to find him. Today was the day that Kagome would finally be able to go home, and it was a joyful day indeed.

Kagome made her way to the main caves, deducing that Kouga would likely be instructing his pack as to the duties that he wanted them to undertake in the morning whilst he was gone. Abruptly, the sharp sound of a deep and guttural growl echoed around the caves and reverberated through her ears. There were voices that followed, low and angry. They were quiet, suggesting that this was not a conversation that the parties wished to have overheard, but filled with a seething rage that was chillingly noticeable even from the distance away that Kagome was. Her excitement made her bold, and, with slightly misguided faith as to her abilities to remain covert, she crept towards the source of the sound, arriving around thirty seconds later at a room that was barren except for three people: Kouga and two others. This room did not have any type of door or covering, and so Kagome had unfettered access to the view from inside (though she opted to only glance once, before hiding herself out of sight. Getting caught would likely be unpleasant for her). There were two men with Kouga, one was relatively short and stocky-looking whom she had no recollection of ever seeing, and the other, an average-sized wolf demon with bushy black hair pulled back into an attempt at a ponytail whom she vaguely remembered having seen at meals before.

Kouga was speaking fast, furiously uttering words at them that Kagome found hard to even keep up with. The demon she recognised cut in, speaking slower, more reasonably, with an unrepentant reproachfulness to his voice.

'But Kouga,' he began, interjecting Kouga from his furious – yet hushed – tirade. 'I saw you with her.'

Kagome bristled reluctantly. The source of Kouga's contention was over a woman?

'You were coming out of the healer's cabin with her, you were helping her and even… _touching_ her,' he shuddered as if this woman – who Kagome now had a sinking suspicion was herself – were covered in the most vile of substances, 'and you were talking to her and _laughing_. You can't tell us that nothing is going on. I thought you were gonna eat her Kouga, what's all this about?' His voice took on a rather whiney quality as he finished his sentence, which Kagome could tell from a chaste and stolen glance at the parties involved, grated on Kouga's nerves. The other demon merely nodded exuberantly. It seemed that he had the rather useless role of standing and agreeing to everything that the other demon said.

'What did you expect me to do with her you idiot?' He hissed venomously, eyes darting around, desperately secretive so as to not be overheard. 'She can see the damn jewel shards. If she dies she's worthless to me; to us. I have to keep her alive, and if that means playing nice for a few days until she's healed then so be it.'

'Is that really it? You're still gonna let us eat her when you're done with her?' The demon's voice was still petulant and grating.

'When I'm done with her, I'll let you guys do whatever the fuck you _want_ with her. Until then, shut the fuck up and don't spread this around. I don't need the rest of the pack thinking that I've grown soft for some pathetic, human girl.' His voice was urgent, and with that he concluded the conversation, wanting it to drag on no longer. Perhaps, in the end, it was a good thing that Kagome was returning home for a while. He could not risk his pack finding out that he had grown fond of the girl; he would lose credibility as a leader, and more than likely the more brazen members of his pack would group together to overthrow him, violently. When a coup was staged, the disgraced leader never gave up his kingdom alive.

Mood effectively ruined, Kouga stomped towards where the majority of his pack would be gathered in order to address them prior to his journey with Kagome. He needed to remind them to play nice, as when the alpha was away wolves tended to misbehave.

'I'm taking the human woman,' he began, not even bothering to call the crowd of boisterous wolves to attention, knowing that his presence would do that for him. 'Where and why is none of your concern. I will be returning without her for a few days, and then I will leave and bring her back. This is none of your concern either.' A few demons grumbled unhappily at this, but Kouga was under no obligation to expand any further. Wolves lived by a strict hierarchy, and it was the job of the pack to follow the alpha's word without question. If they really had a problem with it, they were always welcome to attempt to take Kouga's head. They wouldn't be the first, and neither would they be the last; Kouga had accrued more than enough morbid trophies of defeat in his time as their ruler.

'I'll be leaving with her shortly.' He glanced over at his first and second-in-command. Hakkaku and Ginta exchanged panicked, wide-eyed looks. Swiftly Kouga moved, reaching them in seconds despite the fact that they were situated on the other side of the caves. One opened their mouth indecisively.

'Don't bullshit me. What's the problem?' Kouga was in no mood for the ramblings of his often timid friends.

'We thought she had your permission to leave…she told us you had said to go on ahead without you…' Hakkaku stuttered hesitantly, avoiding his leader's stony gaze.

'If I wanted to be spoken to in riddles I would've spoken to one of the elders. Spit it out.'

'Kagome left.' Ginta spoke quickly, and Kouga paused a beat as he waited for Ginta to expand. No such explanation came as the two stared slack-jawed at him, gauging his reaction. Kouga lowered his head momentarily in an effort to keep his simmering temper from boiling over.

'What do you mean she left?' Kouga through gritted teeth and forced composure, trying hard to keep his anger in check.

'She told us that you had said to go on without her and that you were going to catch up. Then she left.' They spoke together, more or less in unison.

'And why didn't you confirm with me before you let her leave?' Kouga asked, negating the sudden urge to laugh by merely smiling widely instead.

The duo gulped.

'W-well…you weren't around a-and we didn't think she had any reason to lie,' they began, stammering through chattering teeth.

Kouga raised a fist in contemplation, very tempted to hit them or to perhaps simply snap their necks and be done with it, but the slowly waning rational part of his brain reasoned that they were his friends, and that he had already been on a rampage that had produced a body count recently. He didn't think it would be good for morale if he kept killing everyone. Instead Kouga merely settled for growling acrimoniously, a vocalisation that would be intimidating for a human, but that was downright terrifying for a wolf demon that understood its implications.

The duo quickly pointed in the direction that Kagome had gone, and then scampered off without hesitation. If they were smart, they would make themselves scarce for a while.

It wasn't difficult for Kouga to catch up with the little human, and in fact he did so within a matter of minutes. His tremendous speed allowed him to all but stroll to her location, using his nose to track her scent. Skidding to a halt a few centimetres behind her, Kouga noticed the woman's narrow shoulders stiffen and her pacing speed. She was hunched slightly, and would not turn to look at him.

Kouga sighed. Clearly something had displeased her.

'You might as well stop walking.' He spoke idly, unmoved from the place that he had originally halted. 'I'll catch you in seconds.'

His words only served to make the woman burst into a sudden run, stubborn as she was. True to his word, Kouga launched himself from his place behind her and took residence on the land in front of her before she had even time to blink.

Her face shot up briefly in surprise and he caught a glimpse of wide, brown eyes. She lowered her head once more and futilely tried to step around him, doing an odd sort of dance as he blocked her movements at every sharp twist and turn. Abruptly she lurched forward, rather than sideways to get around him, crashing into him shoulder first, clearly using all the force that she could muster. Kouga was unmoved and almost laughed at the little human's fiery actions. Despite appearances, he suspected from the vehemence of her movements that her intent was not to mow over him to get past, but rather to hurt him. Her efforts were ineffectual of course, but still they troubled him.

'What's your problem?' He growled, immediately defensive as he lapsed into the only method of confrontation that he knew: anger.

The woman refused to look at him, and neither did she speak. She had her arms crossed and seemed intent to wait in frustrating silence for him to move. Kouga could only tolerate mere seconds of this, before irritation clenched in his core so viciously that he grabbed her chin, yanking her head upwards so that she would have no choice but to meet his eyes. And they did, for a second, filled with shock and a little pain at his rough actions before she began to struggle. She wrenched her head free of his grasp and leaped backwards, hand rubbing her chin, her expression that of betrayal.

'I'm going home.' She kept her words succinct, perhaps to try and make the quiver in her voice less noticeable Kouga theorised. He was no longer superficially annoyed at her, there was clearly something very wrong.

'I'm aware of that. I was meant to take you there.' He spoke, unnerved to some extent. He talked to her as if she were a toddler; he knew that always riled her up. He hoped that she would become angry, perhaps call him an ass and then resume back to being her usual self.

'I'm going home alone.' Was all she said in reply.

'Cut the shit,' another phrase he had gleaned from her hilariously foul-mouth, 'what's your problem? If something's wrong or if someone did something to you then just tell me and I'll fix it. You don't need to act like such a bitch.'

Her eyes were iridescent with anger. Her teeth were clenched and her rage appeared to be so superfluous that it manifested itself in a growl that rivalled even the throatiest of wolves.

' _I'm_ not the one who's the bitch around here.' She hissed, standing on tiptoes so that her face was barely a centimetre from his. It would have been comical really if the situation had taken a lighter tone.

'Are you calling _me_ a bitch?' Kouga spoke with both incredulity and the beginnings of real, genuine annoyance. She had undermined his authority one too many times today for him to find it cute, and his claws began to itch. She did not reply and so he grabbed her arm roughly and began to drag her forward aimlessly. 'Why are you pulling away? I thought you wanted to go home, so get walking.'

The force at which Kagome was trying to wrench her arm free from Kouga's grasp was such that for a moment he began to fear that she could rip it right out of the socket. Humans were delicate creatures after all. He let go willingly as her efforts were proving fruitless, and Kouga was concerned for the limb that she tugged at so desperately.

He whirled to face to her, to scream and yell. Kouga had finally reached his limit with her insubordination, and his muscles twitched with the ache to correct her behaviour with force. It had been quite while since he had contemplated striking the little human, however this time it was more out of habit than out of any real desire to do so. The only type of conflict resolution that Kouga had ever been taught was to settle an argument with violence: you get mad, you hit the person who made you mad, they hit you back, and whoever comes out of it with the least amount of broken bones would win the fight. This clearly wasn't an option with Kagome, and although the prospect of winning every infuriating argument with her was more than appealing, he couldn't shake the panicked, even slightly nauseating ball that grew and tightened in his stomach when he thought about harming her. When he thought about the night that he _did_ harm her.

'I never should've trusted you.' Kagome broke him out of his reverie with a voice so full of hurt that it made Kouga's heart pump in sharp panic. She did not expand on her sentence, holding her head down so that her hair shielded her eyes from his view.

'What do you mean?' He willed his voice to sound as soft as he intended. She refused to look at him, and she was upset. The thought that he could have been the one to cause this pained him in an entirely uncomfortable way.

'Was any of it real?' She demanded suddenly, the determination of a woman scorned in the way that she raised her head to meet his eyes fearlessly. Kouga's brain pulsated rapidly trying to understand her question, but only succeeding at giving him a stinging headache. 'Last night, yesterday, all of the times since I've been here that you've actually been decent enough to show me even a modicum of kindness. Was any of that real, or was it just all bullshit?'

'Why wouldn't it have been real?'

'I don't know, maybe because you realised that I'm stubborn enough that hurting me wouldn't get me to help you with the jewel shards, and maybe you figured that if you pretended to be nice enough to me you'd have a better shot of getting me to cooperate.'

'Why would I do that?' Kouga was almost pleading with her now, his confusion making his brain swell unpleasantly. Why would she even think that he would waste all the effort that it takes him to be nice to her just for the jewel shards? Kouga was far too impatient a man to even consider deliberately feigning kindness towards a woman who was so damn aggravating. Besides, Kouga hadn't hurt her, not in any real way. Unpleasant a thought as it was, he was certain that if he truly wanted he could use violence to get Kagome to do anything he commanded. He doubted that even her level of stubbornness could rival the amount of pain that he could inflict.

'Because I'm worthless to you dead.' Her gaze was trained on him in quiet betrayal. The words niggled at him, familiarity probing his brain in a way that he couldn't quite connect to a memory. 'Because what else are you expected to do with me when I'm not yet fully healed? Because if you have to play nice with me for a few days then so be it, right?'

Her eyes were red, though completely dry.

The icy chill of comprehension dawned on him. She was repeating what he had said to his pack mates earlier. She had overheard him talking to them.

'Kagome, I didn't mean-'

'Don't. Don't you dare lie to me again.' Her voice was frigid with forsaken trust, and her eyes that were usually so warm and dark, were almost grey with glaciated suffering. As swiftly as she had turned to ice however, she began to thaw.

'I don't wanna hear you lie to me again.' The words audibly caught in her throat. 'I can't believe that I ever thought that you could be telling the truth in the first place.'

'I have never felt bad about who I am before I met you, but now that's all I feel. Ever since you brought me here all I've felt is that I'm too weak, too stupid, too pathetic and too insignificant. And it was fine at first, being around an entire group of people that hated me. It was easier when it was everyone.'

'But then you started to talk to me, and started to treat me like a person rather than like trash, and I thought that I still hated you, I really did. But deep down, I guess I started thinking that you weren't so bad and that you genuinely meant it when you were kind to me. I stopped feeling bad about myself when you were around, because I actually thought that you stopped feeling that way about me too. I thought-' she broke when her voice clipped the inside of her throat, squeaking as she held back her inevitable tears. '-I thought that, just a little bit, you had started to like me. And I wanted so much not to care, to carry on hating you for how awful you've been that I think I actually managed to convince myself that I did still hate you.'

'But I heard you this morning, heard the things you said about me, and it hurt more than anything I've ever felt. And to be honest, I deserve it since I was actually stupid enough to trust someone like you.' She opened her mouth to say more and then covered her lips with her hand as if scared that even a single syllable escaping her them would open the floodgates for the tears that she so desperately tried to hold back.

Kouga was at a loss. His entire body was alight with emotions that he had never particularly felt with any kind of conviction, and it pained him more than he had ever anticipated that it would to see Kagome so hurt by him.

'Kagome…' He moved to touch her, seeking the comfort of physical contact for himself just as much as he wanted to comfort her, but she would not allow him to.

She shoved roughly at his chest, voice cracking intermittently as it increased in volume.

'Don't touch me!' It became quieter. 'Just…don't touch me.'

The first tear fell, devastating to Kouga in the the way that a water droplet marring a freshly painted masterpiece would be to its creator. After the first tear, several more followed suit blurring her cheeks and reddening her eyes further. She held his gaze audaciously for several seconds, refusing to look away or to spare him the pain of seeing her cry; she wanted him to acknowledge that he had made her suffer.

She began to walk past him, and he let her. She did not speak, though she did not have to, as Kouga already knew what she would say:

' _Don't follow me_.'

* * *

And so Kagome found her herself, tear-stained and feeling more foolish than she ever had, back in the village that she had originally run from Kouga to. The townsfolk cowered in fear at her arrival, likely believing that she had come back with the wolf demon that had threatened to kill them not so long ago. She tried to engage them, to ask them for help, even to ask for the girl that had been so kind to her, Sango, but none would respond.

Dejected and rejected for a second time, Kagome was on the verge of a fresh wave of tears.

'What the hell are you guys complaining about now?' A brash voice cut through the air irately. Cries of alarm rang out and the villagers called a single name in unison:

'Inuyasha!'

'The girl who was with the demon returned!' A villager cried.

'What if the demon sent her here to scope out the village before he destroys it?' Another chimed in desperately.

'Keh,' he spat the word out of his mouth as if it were a piece of mouldy bread, 'if any demon comes around here, I can handle them. I told you that before.'

Kagome had been rubbing her eyes, quickly trying to eradicate all traces of water and salt from her face before she turned to face the owner of the cocky and rough-sounding voice.

She would have noticed his pure white hair first, or his striking red robe that covered his body baggily or even the very noticeable and very un-human dog ears that poked cutely out from the top of his head, if it wasn't for his eyes.

They were amber, and sticky like sap running from an injured tree, and in them were flecks of gold so vivid in colour that they were almost yellow. His pupils were small and dilated, and when he looked at her they expanded slightly. It was the eyes of the man in her dreams.

'This is the girl?' He was wholly unimpressed. 'She doesn't seem dangerous at all.'

'It's not her!' The villagers insisted. 'It's the demon she brought with her!'

He sighed, clearly wanting to do anything else than indulge the pleas of the villagers.

'Girl. Where's the demon they saw you with?' He asked, voice monotone and uninterested, speaking more out of reluctant acquiescence than any kind of real concern.

Kagome huffed angrily, trying to channel any emotion other than sadness. She refused to cry over him again. 'Back at his den, I would imagine. And why are you interrogating me anyway? I'm just an innocent human! I was captured and kept there against my will for weeks, and none of you would help me!' She emphasised this point by whirling around and pointing a finger at the villagers accusingly. They at least had the grace to look ashamed.

'So you're telling me that a frail human girl like you managed to escape from a demon?' He was clearly sceptical, and Kagome decided against divulging the whole truth at that moment in time.

'Well…they didn't let me sleep near them because I'm 'human and disgusting' or whatever, so last night I worked up the courage to escape and I just ran. I was quite a distance from where everyone else was sleeping that they didn't notice, and after I had ran far enough away that I thought they wouldn't find me, I spent the night in a cave I found. Then in the morning I left, and this was the first village that I came across.' She was thorough in her answer partly in order assuage the villagers' concerns, but mostly because she was tired and emotionally drained, and didn't want to continue answering pointless questions. She just wanted to go home.

'So you ran away from a pack of demons and came here? That'll bring them right to us! They'll kill us all!' One of the male villagers was suddenly fervent in his panic, inciting the other humans into furore.

'Shut up!' The dog-eared demon snapped as quickly as the outcry started, quite obviously used to manic hysteria developing quickly in this village. 'Goddamn, you're all such cowards. _I told you_ , if any demons come by I'll handle it. '

He turned his attention once more to Kagome.

'So what's the plan now?'

'I want to go home.' She did not pause to think, she knew exactly where she wanted to be.

'And how do you plan to get there?' The dog demon replied, wary that he would be asked to offer his assistance.

Kagome furrowed her brows. 'Well…do you know where Kaede's village is? If you could point me in that I'm sure I can find it.'

The demon known as 'Inuyasha' locked eyes with Kagome, staring at her silently for several seconds.

'Never heard of it.' He shrugged eventually, turning away as if his part role was done.

'Wait a second-' She reached out her arm in desperation as if she could grasp the information that she desired out of thin air. Inuyasha turned back to observe her agitatedly. 'Could…could you help me, then?'

From the way his eyebrows raised and curved inwards, it was clear that he had no intention to do so.

'Inuyasha,' one of the villagers spoke pleadingly, 'just help her. That way you can get her out of the village and we can be sure that the demon she was with won't return.'

'I already told you that I-' He began furiously as the villagers seemed to doubt his ability to fight off any ill-meaning foes. However, he was cut short by a chorus of timid and woeful voices that begged of him to remove Kagome from their village.

Kagome was almost offended by their insistence of her departure, however having lived with a bunch of human-hating demons for the past few weeks, she had more empathy than most for their fear.

He gave in, reluctantly. 'Fine. I'll help you – _for a while._ But if it takes too long and we can't find your village or I get bored, I'm leaving. Got that?'

'Was that a question or a statement?' Kagome asked rather sulkily. She didn't appreciate his gruff attitude or manner towards her, and she almost regretted asking him for help at all.

Inuyasha merely snorted, shaking his head as a dog would to remove excess moisture from their fur, and his long silver hair sprayed outwards and around him, glinting in the sunlight. He began to walk forward, and Kagome followed.

* * *

They had been walking for what seemed like hours. Inuyasha had not asked for any direction or clues as to which way they should be going, and Kagome's stubbornness prevented her from offering any. In the end however, her rumbling stomach and tired legs swayed her to acquiescence.

'I'm tired.' She grumbled softly, bracing herself for the inevitable bitching that the dog demon was likely to commence.

'I'm not surprised. We've been walking for a while. There's a river up ahead; we can rest there.' His tone was surprisingly gentle and even, and his sudden shift in character shocked Kagome into a rare speechlessness.

They continued to walk a few more paces before said river melted into view through the trees and greenery like a sparkling blue miracle. Temporarily forgetting about her aching legs, Kagome threw her hands upwards in delight making an incomprehensible noise of joy before kicking her shoes and socks off and running to the riverbed. She sat, letting the cool ebbing and flowing of the water wash over her tired feet and sighed happily.

'Well that sure perked you up.' Inuyasha noted more to himself than anyone else.

Kagome was reluctant to start conversation with him considering how rude he had been before, however their sudden arrival at the river had brightened her mood considerably, and she was doing almost anything that she could to avoid thinking about Kouga and how hurt she felt. It was the only thing that was keeping her from bursting into tears, and so she spoke.

'Do you even know where you're going?' She asked as she rummaged through her backpack, pulling out some savoury snacks and handing one of the packets to Inuyasha wordlessly. Inuyasha did not thank her. Instead, he surveyed the crackle-y foreign object in his hands in confusion before answering.

'I think so. The name Kaede kinda rings a bell when I think about it. Not sure why.' He grunted in appreciation as Kagome relinquished him of the confusing little bag with a giggle, opening it to reveal the crunchy contents that dwelled within. They didn't smell like any food that he had ever smelt, but the human was eating them and that was good enough for him. He took a bite; they were salty.

They lapsed into silence once more, and Kagome took the time to study the young demon. She couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of familiarity and so she drank in every feature inquisitively, hoping to spark some sort of memory. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't help but compare him to Kouga. Inuyasha's skin was lighter than Kouga's, and of course his golden eyes were a striking contrast to Kouga's azure ones. The curves of his face were more gentle, his body less well-built – though still masculine – and in another direct contrast, his hair was the colour of a well-camouflaged rabbit in the middle of a winter blizzard. It sparkled frostily in light as well, just like freshly fallen snow.

Perhaps it was the unshakeable feeling of acquaintanceship that Kagome felt that biased her, but she also felt that Inuyasha seemed to be a less threatening presence. Whereas Kouga was imposing and deadly confident in his power, Inuyasha was more subdued with his. He seemed strong, but in a way that needed to be proved before believed. Kagome knew from experience that Kouga could simply walk onto a battlefield and be feared; his strength reverberated from him palpably. To Kagome, it seemed that Inuyasha would only earn the fear of his opponents upon their defeat – he just did not possess the raw, savage and innate power that Kouga did. It was a welcome, if not slightly unnerving change in energy for Kagome, and she relished the opportunity to talk to a demon that didn't make her feel as though he would snap her neck at any second.

'So, you ran away from that wolf, huh?' Inuyasha asked, almost mockingly.

Kagome bristled. 'Well it's not like I could fight them.'

'Oh yeah, sometimes I forget how weak you humans are.'

Their snacks crunched audibly as they chewed.

'Do you…do you recognise me at all?' The question was tentative and followed by an insecure tilt of the head. Her recognition of him irked her and she was curious to know if he held any kind of the same familiarity for her.

Inuyasha turned to look at her, studying her face intently. 'Not really.'

Kagome exhaled deeply, of course not. It was likely all in her imagination. Where would she know a silver-haired dog demon from anyway?

'But I recognise your smell.'

The sound of Inuyasha's voice startled Kagome as she had not expected him to speak again.

'My smell?'

He nodded, and then shrugged. 'It smells familiar to me.'

It brought a small ping of happiness to Kagome to know that she was not the only one to be plagued by these disconcerting feelings, and she probed further.

'Why do you think that is?' She was genuinely curious. Why would he recognise her smell, or indeed anything about her?

'Who knows? Who cares? All you humans smell alike anyway.' Clearly Inuyasha was not particularly interested in exploring this the way that Kagome was.

'But aren't demons able to recognise people simply by their smell? Obviously we can't all smell the same if you're able to do that, idiot.' She folded her arms and looked across the river determinedly. The one thing that Inuyasha did have in common with Kouga was his bad attitude.

The dog demon sighed uninterestedly. 'I don't know why I recognise you're scent. It does smell kinda weird and I guess it's different from other humans. Does it matter?'

'I recognise you from somewhere, but for some reason I just can't remember why or from where. I think that matters.' She replied, arms still crossed.

Inuyasha scoffed. 'Please. If you had met me before, you'd remember.'

Kagome chuckled involuntarily. 'Wow, such arrogance. What an attractive trait for a man to possess.'

She spoke through smiling lips and so it made it hard for Inuyasha to be legitimately angry, but still he tried to respond to her as indignantly as possible.

'What's that supposed to mean? I can't help it if I'm attractive _and_ amazingly powerful.' He was being serious, but his sent Kagome in peals of laughter, her face creasing into mirth prettily. The expression she made when she smiled so genuinely was almost enough to negate his annoyance, however his wounded pride would not allow this, and he turned away from her with his trademark 'keh'.

After a few more minutes of quiet laughter and relaxation, Kagome stood up after putting back on her shoes.

'Would you like a few more minutes to rest, or are you ready to leave now?'

'Psh, I don't need to rest like you humans do, I'm a demon.'

Kagome rolled her eyes as he began to traipse on ahead of her. 'Of course you don't.'

* * *

After several more hours of semi-aimless walking and asking for directions (rather unsuccessfully due to Inuyasha's demonic appearance), they finally made their way to the village that was known as Kaede's. Kagome ventured further into the village, soon leaving it altogether. She urged Inuyasha on who became wary that she was leading him into some kind of trap. He made a half-assed noise as she pointed out some stupid tree to him and kept his eyes peeled and senses alert for any sign of danger.

Eventually, Kagome took him to an open field with nothing more than old well in the middle of it. She looked surprisingly pleased with herself.

'I found it!' She squealed happily at a pitch that wasn't entirely comfortable for Inuyasha's ears. She ran towards it and hugged it, looking ridiculous – though happy – as she did so.

'This is your home?' He began to think that perhaps the girl was not entirely the sharpest knife in the kitchen.

'Well, no silly, of course _this_ isn't my home, I just have to travel through the magical well-' She clamped her mouth shut quickly. Shit. She had brought Inuyasha here, as in _all the way_ here. She had intended to fob him off after they had approached the village, thank him for his help and then find the well alone. Instead, in her giddy delight to reach home again, she had unintentionally brought him with her.

Inuyasha's raised eyebrow urged her to continue sarcastically.

'Um…yeah. You see, this well…is not my home.'

'Wow, really?' He feigned shock, and Kagome battled the urge to throw something sharp at him.

'Actually, the thing is…this well has been spelled. Magically. By a priestess.'

Again, Inuyasha was silent as he waited for her to continue, clearly not convinced.

'What I mean is that a priestess cast a spell on our village so that the only way to access it was through a well, and so that the only people that could access it were those with permission.'

'Really?' His expression turned to stunned curiosity. 'Priestesses can do that?'

'Apparently so.' She responded sheepishly.

'Why would a priestess want to do that in the first place?' He became sceptical.

'Because, um, we had suffered a lot of demon attacks. And…bandits…and stuff. And the priestess of our village wanted to protect our homes from anymore misfortune.'

Amazingly, Inuyasha seemed to believe her. She supposed that it wasn't anymore outrageous than the truth anyway.

'So you just jump in, and you get transported to your village?'

'Basically, yes.' The more she explained her lie, the closer to the truth it got.

'And I couldn't travel through the well also?' He attempted to wrap his mind around the situation.

'No, because you haven't been given permission.'

'And how do you get permission?'

'Er…I'm not allowed to say. It has to be kept secret and all that otherwise I'll be kicked out of the village.' She narrowly missed being caught out.

'Hm,' he grunted as he pondered, 'well ok then. See you.' And he turned to leave.

'Wait – you're just going to leave?' She shouted after him, shocked by his abrupt farewell.

'Why not? You're gonna jump down your well thing and I'm not allowed through. What reason would there be for me to stay?'

She supposed he was right, but the thought of his departure made her a little sad.

'Well thank you, then. I really appreciate that you brought me all the way here.'

Inuyasha waved a hand dismissively. 'If I didn't, Sango would've just yelled at me later when she found out what happened anyway.' And then he left, leaving only the word 'Sango' in his wake.

Kagome mulled over this name as she made her descent into the well.

'Sango'. That was the girl who she had met in the village the first time she had tried to escape Kouga. She was kind, and Kagome very much hoped that she would be able to meet her again.

* * *

Their leader had not made the trip with the human as planned. After leaving the caves alone, he returned alone and offered no explanation as to where the jewel shard detector had gone. Rage poured out of his body like electricity; no wolf dared to approach him. He stormed through the caves heavily, quieting his pack with each thunderous footstep.

He passed a group of demons that wisely kept their gazes fixed on the ground.

He stopped.

He roared and faster than lightening he grabbed the newfound object of his rage and threw him clear across the cave. The demon hit the wall with a thud that made the entire cave collectively wince.

'This is your fault.' With the expression on Kouga's face, the wolves expected him to bellow and yell, to spit his words as if they were venom. When he spoke however, his voice was deathly quiet. He locked his gaze with startled, terrified demon who was crumpled into a pitiful clump on the floor with murder in his eyes, and with hatred in them too.

Ginta was usually the more timid of the duo, often leaving Hakkaku to do most of the more courageous of feats, however one look at Hakkaku's horror-stricken face told Ginta that he was far too frightened of his leader's sudden outburst to do a single thing.

Ginta gulped, and then launched himself at Kouga, grabbing onto his arm in a way that he hoped was not threatening. Most of the pack saw Kouga as their leader first and friend second (if at all), but to Ginta and Hakkaku it had always been the other way around. It distressed Ginta to see Kouga so clearly in pain, and he could see no other option to help his friend than to attempt to stop him from doing anything that he would later regret.

'Kouga,' he kept his voice mellow, ensuring that it took on the tone of a question rather than a command, 'why don't we get out of the caves for a while and calm down?'

His friend's self-control was rapidly dwindling, and at that moment in time, when Kouga whipped his head round to face him so fast that his neck nearly snapped from the force of it, Ginta couldn't tell whether he even recognised him as a friend, or as just another enemy to crush.

Hakkaku tentatively joined him, coaxing him gently and drawing his fixation from their bushy-haired comrade – whose hair was falling messily out of his unkempt ponytail – on the ground that was almost convulsing with fear. Kouga took a step back.

After the first step followed a few more, and though he did not take his withering gaze from the pile of dark hair and terror on the ground, he eventually allowed them to remove him from the caves.

Ginta opened his mouth to speak, unsure as to whether to ask Kouga what was wrong or to simply offer some empty words of comfort, but before he could even make a sound, their troubled leader was gone.

* * *

 **That's it for this chapter! Hope you didn't expect things to go well for Kagome and Kouga after the kind of high note that the previous chapter ended on ;) please give me a review or a like or a follow or anything you want if you enjoyed, and I hope to see you all in the next chapter! Until next time guys~**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, welcome to another chapter! This one admittedly had a lot of talking in it, so I hope that you guys find it engaging enough to not get bored at any point. I'm uploading late at night on a Wednesday (UK time) today instead of the usual Thursday as an extra special treat for you guys :p**

 **Just for fun, I'm curious as to how you think this story is going to play out. If you'd like to leave a review and you have any thoughts as to how _you_ think the story is going to progress - let me know! I'm interested see what your thoughts are so far! *cough cough* I want to steal your ideas *cough cough* ;)**

 **Also, I re-wrote most of the first half of the story so many times. I just was not happy with the way that it read, and I'm still not entirely pleased, but since I'm my own worst critic sometimes I decided that I've probably done a good enough job with it by now :p let me know what you guys think, too. Constructive criticism is always welcome :)**

 **Just as a quick note, I forgot if Kouga was the leader of the eastern tribe or a different one, but since I THINK it's the eastern tribe that's what I put in. Please correct me if I'm wrong! Also, I forgot Nami's eye and hair colour...and I could find her hair colour when I went looking back through the chapters, but not her eye colour. So if anyone knows wtf her eye colour is meant to be, let me know too! Clearly I know my characters so well XD**

 **This chapter though guys...it's SO LONG. Like over 11,000 words. My chapters usually average about 7000 so I have no idea why this got so long...I guess partly because I felt like it needed to be longer because of all the talking so it felt like things actually progressed in time.**

 **I'll stop rambling so you can actually read now, thanks for your continuing support guys :)**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 9**

She had been gone longer than usual this time, and so naturally her mother and grandfather had been worried. Her smile was tight, though it was the best attempt at a reassuring smile that she could muster. Kagome quickly decided that for now she would refrain from telling her mother that she had been kidnapped, enslaved and almost killed on numerous occasions. She knew how much her mother and grandfather worried about her jumping – quite literally – into the past alone, where there were all manner of supernatural creatures and demons ready and able to kill her at moment's notice. Sometimes Kagome wondered about it herself, pondering what would drive a previously average human teenager to constantly travel into the unknown, alone and vulnerable to sort out an ancient mess that really didn't need to be her concern. Most of the time, she attributed it to guilt for having mistakenly blown the jewel shard to pieces; other times that felt wrong. Thinking about it gave her a headache however, and so she quickly moved on to a different train of thought.

Kouga.

Her cheeks almost instinctively heated, and her eyes pricked dryly with unwelcome moisture. It had been five days since she had returned from the past, and rather than being the relaxing escape from the feudal era and all of its demands that she had hoped it would be, her return home was restless and unsatisfying. She found that she had an unusually low tolerance for her brother Souta, and snapped at him regularly. He had avoided her for the majority of this trip home as a consequence.

Kagome had not found solace – or distraction – in school either. Lessons were unendingly boring, and she was unable to pay attention. Her friends rambled on aimlessly about problems that she did not share, and nor did she feel that they were particularly interesting or important. Houjo continued to grate on her last nerve.

Each day after school she flicked through magazines and TV channels aimlessly, trying to find some kind of distraction that would remove her from the burden of her thoughts for even an hour in order to give her some relief. It seemed however, that betrayal was not easy to forget, and neither was anger.

Kagome was surprised at quite how _much_ anger she directed towards herself. She had expected to be furious with Kouga, but instead she was really only furious with her own inability to see through him. She tossed and turned. It was late and hot and she was lying on top of the covers on her bed. The more she thought about her anger, the more it grew to the point where she felt like driving her head into a concrete pavement just to punish herself. Every night since she returned had been sleepless and filled with more tears than she cared to admit, and it was clear that tonight would be the same.

She shot up and dressed quickly. She packed her backpack. She reasoned that if perhaps she could go back to the past, then in some way that would assuage her hurt. Perhaps she would find a peace in the feudal era that she was unable to attain in her time. Perhaps she would see Kouga and be able to punch him in the face. Either way, she was certain that staying in this time and dealing with her mundane teenage existence would do nothing to help her. She needed to go back to the time where she had been hurt, and if only for her own sake, she needed to be able to blame Kouga.

She left a hurried note on the kitchen table. It was the middle of the night, but she was old enough now to be independent, and since she had spent many nights alone in the feudal era, there was not much her mother could say to her doing the same on this occasion.

She felt the chill of the well as she jumped, and the tingle as time literally reversed.

She climbed with some difficulty to the top, taking a moment to observe the stars that were never quite visible in the same way in her time. They decorated the deep dark of the night like glitter thrown haphazardly over blackened paper, and they shone each like the brightest of spotlights.

She lifted herself to the top, and looked over the rim.

He looked almost serene. His eyes were calm as well as his breathing, and he looked like he had been in the position that he was sitting in for quite some time. He was poised in front of the well with folded arms and legs, eyes waiting and ready to lock onto hers.

Kagome met Kouga's calm with shock. Was this an illusion? An image conjured up by a sleep-deprived mind to allow her to face her demons without actually having to face them? She contemplated punching him in the face as per her earlier thought, however she feared that if this mirage were real, she would face the repercussions of her actions.

'How…how are you here?' She asked softly, the still of the night carrying the question easily. How had he even discovered where the well was?

'I tracked you.' He replied simply, but his voice surprised her. It was faintly hoarse and uneven, and not at all composed.

Despite her best efforts, Kagome was concerned for him, and it rippled through her body in irresistible waves. She did not invite nor want the feeling, but it made an unwelcome appearance nonetheless, so strongly in fact that she was unable to do anything but succumb as she launched herself over the lip of the well and went to him.

'When was the last time you drank anything?' She pulled a plastic water bottle from her bag and offered it to his lips, but he refused.

'Does it matter?' He asked, voice sounding sore and unused.

'Well obviously it matters,' she huffed, 'how long have you been here for?'

'Since you left.' He answered immediately, his eyes piercing. They were boring into hers and Kagome was taken aback by just how vivid they looked in the moonlight. Quickly, the adrenaline wore off and she began to feel weary, and angry.

'What for? Afraid you won't be able to find any more jewel shards without your little jewel shard detector?' She was bitter, and it was apparent.

He hung his head and at least had the grace to look ashamed, though this only served to infuriate her further.

'Well? Nothing to say?' Her voice increased in decibel, shaking with pent-up fury.

'…I guess not.' He spoke after many laboured seconds of indecisiveness, swallowing to wet his throat before he did so. As he spoke he looked upwards into the inky depths of the night's sky, studying each star as they flickered like candles, and a warming breeze made his equally as dark hair sway gently over his shoulder.

'Then why are you here?!' She screeched, the sound carrying in the silence of the night in a way that was almost uncomfortable to hear.

'Because I…I wanted you to know that I didn't mean what I said to those guys. I just needed you to know that.' He sounded conflicted, and the rational part of her brain suspected that even Kouga was unsure as to why he had bothered to travel so far to explain himself to a human.

'Well, great. Good for you. I really hope you've got some closure now and you can go on murdering humans and torturing people guilt-free and as often as you like, because clearly you have nothing to feel guilty for anymore now that you've told me that, right?' Her voice still trembled as she spoke, though it was quieter now. It dripped with sarcasm, and she fought the itch to display her emotions physically and violently.

Her words seemed to ignite something in Kouga, and for the first time during their brief encounter, he had passion in his eyes.

'You're coming back to the caves.'

'Like hell I am.' Kouga couldn't help but note the way that bared her teeth at him, almost snarling. Perhaps she was more of a wolf than he had thought.

'Yes, you are.' His voice was final. He stood, and grabbed her arm as he pulled her to her feet. Just like last time, she fought him.

'Let me go!' She cried, viciously twisting as if his hand was coated in acid.

'I told you I didn't mean what I said, now we're going back.' His voice was odd, set with a rigid determination that was not at all natural.

'That's not how this works!' She screamed as loudly as she feasibly could, forcing him to involuntarily release her arm as he winced and covered his own ears.

'That's not how this fucking works!' She began to sob dryly, her voice thick with emotion. 'You can't do this! You can't say something like that about me and then ambush me and try to drag me away and then expect everything to be all right. _You_ fucked up. _You_. And yet I'm the one paying for it.' She took a brief pause to pant heavily, looking up at him from a cautious distance.

'I'm so angry at myself. I can't believe that I was foolish enough to think for a second that there was even a glimmer of something good about you. But I did, and now you've done exactly what I knew you'd do and you've hurt me. The best part is that I should be blaming you, the way you deserve to blamed, but no matter how hard I try, I still blame myself…because I should've known better.'

This seemed to quell his fire somewhat, drenching it as it hissed and sizzled with remorse. He again remained silent and so Kagome spoke once more, desperate to receive some kind of answer or closure.

'You hurt me, Kouga. Don't you have anything to say?'

He raised his head despondently. 'I'm a demon.' His was dejected, clearly resigned.

'And that's supposed to excuse everything?' She probed angrily, unwilling to tolerate that as a reasonable excuse for him behaving like a shitty person.

'No, but it's what I am and even if I wanted to I couldn't change it.'

'You are so full of shit,' her voice oscillated the thin line of anger and devastation, uncertain as to whether it should cry or shout. 'You use being a demon as a justification for all the awful things you do, because you're too much of a coward to admit that it's _you_ that's just awful.' The tears she had been fighting so strenuously finally broke like a dam, streaming down the curves of her face mercilessly.

'You're right.' He was wearier than she had seen him before, and a small part of her that she did not welcome acknowledged that he truly was remorseful for what he had said. This did not comfort her however, and instead it left her feeling cold. He had deliberately said something that he didn't mean about her because he was ashamed of who she was, and that felt worse than if he had meant every single word of what he had said.

As the tears and the wailing built up to a heart-breaking crescendo, she held out her arms like a crying child who had got separated from its mother in a frenzy of emotion, seeking comfort and contact. It made her weep harder that she sought this consolation from Kouga, and Kouga alone.

He swooped, enveloping his arms around her shuddering body and lifting her from the ground. He cradled her tenderly as her body heaved with grief and anger, and even went so far as to run a tentative hand through her coal-black hair. Each time he did so, the soft strands tickled his fingers pleasantly and the rich, sweet scent that was so foreign and strange to him wafted from her tresses. He decided that odd as it may be, he liked the smell.

Several minutes passed as heaves turned to tremors and tremors turned to a delicate shiver. Kagome's face was buried into Kouga's neck, his rugged smell soothing her. Her hands were wrapped around his body, and she noted with some embarrassment that her feet were still dangling off of the ground.

'Um…you can put me down now.' Her voice was still affected by her crying, and it wobbled as she spoke. Kouga neither moved nor answered, instead staring pensively ahead as he clutched her lithe body ever so slightly tighter to him.

'No seriously,' her voice was stronger now, 'I'd like to go down now.'

Tentatively, almost changing his mind once he had begun to lower her, Kouga placed Kagome gently on the floor. She kept her head facing down, refusing to look at him as embarrassment coloured her cheeks. She had spent the last few days willing herself to hate him, and the second she was confronted with him she jumped into his arms as if all of her previous pain and turmoil was nothing. She could not yet bring herself to look into his eyes, the shame in allowing him to yet again control her emotions with his very presence proving too much to face head on.

But she could feel his sad eyes. They were insecure and waiting; she knew that he was remorseful over what had transpired. Again, his very presence influenced her actions in a way that made her hate herself as she brought her eyes upwards slowly, glancing over his armour-clad torso and broad shoulders. She gave a half-hearted smile.

'Do you want to talk about it?'

* * *

They had walked through the forest and into a clearing, which, as clearings so often did in this time, made way for a river that rippled elegantly in the moonlight. The area surrounding the well had had no comfortable places to sit, consisting only of long, fluttering grass and Kagome relished the thought of being able to sit beside Kouga and stare balmily into the distance as they spoke rather than having to stand face-to-face.

She sat, contemplating the similarity of this moment to the one that she had shared with Inuyasha on the day that she had gone home, before feeling the heat of Kouga's bare arm radiate onto hers and wondering whether sitting next to each other in close proximity really was any better than a face-to-face conversation.

Both seemed reluctant to begin speaking, but Kouga's eerie quiet succeeded in prompting Kagome to vocalise her thoughts.

'I don't know why I suggested we do this,' she spoke honestly, unsure of what else to say, 'you hurt me.'

From her peripheral vision she saw Kouga nod.

'I want so badly to blame you for hurting me, and I've been trying to convince myself these past couple of weeks to hate you, but the second I saw you I just…' she took a brief pause to collect her thoughts, 'I don't know why I feel this way. You toy with my emotions, like I'm some kind of doll that you can manipulate and play with whenever you want. You make it so that I'm never sure how you're feeling or if you're going to snap, and I never know how _I'm_ going to feel until you make me feel it.' She paused a beat before continuing. 'Why, despite all of that do I still feel so…drawn to you?'

Her questioned seemed rhetorical, but she wished that he would answer just so that she would be able to understand her own feelings. The confusion and the past five days of upset caused her eyes to fill with tears, and she desperately tried to blink them away before they fell.

'For all intents and purposes I should hate you by now. I think you use people, and I think you use me, too. You deliberately mess with me to entertain yourself: you make me embarrassed or angry or even scared for petty reasons, like being bored. You have so little regard for the lives of others that it genuinely scares me at times, and you're so detached from your own emotions that you can't even admit that that's a problem. All week I've been asking myself what it could possibly be that would make me want to get to know someone as damaged and dangerous as you are, and in the end I really have no answers other than to say that I feel a connection with you. I don't understand what it is or why I have it, but I do feel it.'

'I keep thinking about the time that I asked you about your mother, as well. That day was the only time that you actually truly let me see even a glimpse of how you really feel and who you truly are. I guess what I'm trying to say is that for a brief moment I saw the real you, and he's not the person that you've been conditioned to become. From what I know, your childhood seems like it was horrible, and being a demon I assume you're taught from a young age anyway to harbour so much hate, but when I saw you that day it made me think that deep down that might not really be you.'

She could feel Kouga's eyes boring into the side of her face, listening intently. She struggled with her inner conflict, her tone fluctuating to reflect this. For the most part, she was unsure of what she would say until she began to speak the words, and she could not help the outpour of honestly that flowed from her lips. It was therapeutic almost to speak so truthfully about her feelings for him and to admit all the things that she previously had not dared.

'I think that's what drives me to forgive you. Because I understand why you feel the way that you do. Because I know that your childhood was awful and that you were neglected in a way that no child should be. But the thing is, you're a not a child anymore, and if there's one thing that I can't let go of, it's the fact that you're not brave enough to act like it. Every shitty thing that you do is a choice that you make, and no matter how deeply you've been conditioned into believing certain things and feeling certain ways, you can't keep passing the blame for the things that you do onto that. Adults take responsibility for the things they do wrong, but you're so scared of your own feelings you refuse to do that. Instead, you just continue to hurt people and you don't even care-'

'It's not that easy.' Kouga spoke his first words that night, interjecting with a bitter voice that spoke of hatred and resignation. 'It's not that easy to just 'take responsibility' for creatures like us.'

'What do you mean?' Kagome asked, grateful that Kouga had begun speaking so that she didn't have to.

'I'm a demon.' He replied sourly, as if nothing more needed to be said.

'So?' Kagome demanded impatiently, unwilling to accept that as an excuse for his behaviour.

'We're not like you, ok? Demons are cruel and uncaring. We kill and we hurt people – other demons and humans alike – and we don't feel bad about it because that's just who we are. Especially wolf demons. We run on instinct and our instincts tell us to kill when we want and eat _who_ we want. Our instincts tell us to look out for ourselves first before anybody else.'

'So that's supposed to just excuse everything? Every awful thing you do, whether it's to humans or to your friends can just be explained away by saying 'I'm a demon, it's what we do'? Are you kidding me?'

'It's the truth.' Kouga answered again bluntly.

'That's an excuse and you use it as just that; to excuse all the things you're ashamed that you've done because you're not brave enough to admit that you were wrong for doing them.'

'I'm not afraid of anything!' He all but roared, body stiff and primed to jump to his feet. His pride was wounded and her words stung as they more than just a little felt like the truth. 'I've fought every demon you can think of and defeated them all, I challenged my father alone when I was nothing more than a child, and as a child I left the protection of the western caves and survived alone through the harsh winters for years. I finally found solace in the eastern caves and when the time was right I overtook the former leader of my pack and all of his guards, _alone_. I don't even remember what fear feels like.' His voice finished dangerously low, his words listing his many brave accomplishments but his tone betraying his pain.

'And yet you're so afraid to admit the truth.' Kagome responded simply. Kouga's many conquests were indeed impressive and could not have been undertaken without huge amounts of courage, yet it seemed that Kouga was not brave enough to be honest with himself. It seemed like in the end the bravery that the wolf demon was so notoriously famed for was superficial and only skin deep. Kagome could see that underneath Kouga's many complex layers was a man who never quite learned what it means to be vulnerable, and was terrified of ever doing so. Kagome suspected that this was true of most wolf demons, as outward bravery and feats of strength seemed to be valued over all else with their kind, whereas emotional honesty and fortitude seemed to be secondary, if even valued at all.

He didn't argue with her, to Kagome's surprise. He merely lapsed into another restless silence as he considered her words.

'I'm a demon,' he eventually said again, 'it's what we do.'

Kagome sighed with a hint of disappointment that she didn't quite understand.

'And that,' She began, 'is the one thing that I cannot forgive about you, Kouga.'

* * *

Kouga was pensive, and more than a little disgruntled. He had spent the last few days keeping guard by the well, waiting for any little movement, any little inclination that Kagome would emerge from its depths. Of course, the mystical well had not been Kouga's initial destination. He had first ran to the human village close to his caves, knowing that Kagome would have had to have passed through there in order to get to wherever 'home' was. He planned to interrogate the villagers for any hint as to her whereabouts, with force if necessary. Despite its close proximity to his caves, it was surprising that neither Kouga nor his pack had ever plundered the village. If they had, there would be no villagers left to question, as when the wolves raided a village, they made it sport and they played a very thorough game. Kouga supposed that he had not yet had the time to deliberately seek out human villages to destroy. He was relatively new as leader, having sat atop his metaphorical throne for just over a year and he had spent his time achieving the goals that he had set himself; namely making his pack stronger and more importantly making his pack feared. If they happened across a village of humans and were hungry, then Kouga and his wolves of course indulged, but he had yet to begin seeking out villages.

He supposed that his men would want to reduce each village to rubble, and each human to meat and bones when he got around to targeting them, however Kouga had no interest in such frivolous pursuits. He enjoyed the hunt, and certainly enjoyed the kill, but he found humans incredibly mundane. Kouga liked the thrill of taking on a worthy opponent; of allowing them to think that they had the advantage and watching their eyes fill with the sudden realisation of their own death when he turned the tables and began to fight back. Sometimes he would plunge his hand into their chests and grasp their hearts delicately, almost tenderly just so that he could feel it as it began to beat wildly with terror. Humans however, were fragile and broke easily. If Kouga forced his hands through their sternum they would likely die just from the impact, and insects that crushed so easily when stepped upon posed no interest for him. For that reason, and due to the fact that he had a greater ability to control his instincts than most wolf demons, when he began to conquer human villages he would be tactical.

He would give the humans a choice: they either bow down to him and submit to his every whim, or he would destroy their homes, their livestock and more importantly, them. He would execute them one at a time, make families watch as he picked them off individually in painful ways, and he would give the 'prettier' maidens to his men and let them do with them what they wished. The thought of lying with a human was not appealing to Kouga whatsoever and so he would take no part in it, but for those of his comrades with lower standards than himself he had no problem with allowing them to do as they wished.

The thought of killing humans so ruthlessly made his body niggle uncomfortably and his brows furrow. He stole a glance at the human walking noiselessly beside him. Still, she had all but told him that he was a coward and an awful person and so he felt little guilt for his musings, spitefully blocking any guilt that he may have otherwise felt. Instead, he was bitter and perhaps even a little childish and so he allowed his darkest thoughts to develop and expand in his mind, plotting each sick and twisted way he would inflict suffering on the humans spitefully, if only to alleviate some of his own suffering by substituting it with theirs.

His thoughts began to trail and he found himself replaying the events that lead him to this moment in time, to this girl.

He had run to the human village. He had demanded answers, and then the pungent scent of dog invaded his nostrils in a way that physically offended him. He hated the smell of dog more than anything else. He had primed his claws, quietly distraught enough to compel him to want to strike the dog down just to rid the air of his scent without even uttering a word to him first.

The villagers shrieked as they often did, and pleaded with the exasperated dog for help. It was interesting to find a demon actually working _with_ the humans rather than just eating them. Clearly the red-cloaked hanyou was more of a pussy than Kouga originally surmised. He sped through this particular part of his memory, deeply uninterested. He had made threats, the hanyou did the same. They had fought, and with his brute strength and cunning, Kouga had won. He demanded information about Kagome and the hanyou refused, though his tongue loosened considerably when Kouga plunged his hands into his stomach and started playing with his intestines. For a half demon, an injury like that was certainly a severe one. He found himself hoping hatefully that the dog had since died.

From there, armed with the information he needed, he used all the strength that he could muster to find the mystical well in the fastest time possible. It was at that well that he sat for days, only eating and drinking just enough as he needed, numbly impatient for her arrival.

And then she had arrived, and for a brief moment Kouga felt a peace that he had never felt before. She had cried and clung to his body desperately, and in that moment she allowed him to glimpse at her suffering; the suffering that he had caused. Her face was gaunt, and her eyes had slight bags. She clearly had not been sleeping well.

She walked just behind him at a dismally slow pace, and having become accustomed to the remarkable speed that the jewel shards granted him, slowing down to keep in line with her was physically painful for Kouga. Neither knew where they were going. Somewhere along the way they had just begun to walk, and aimlessly they continued to do so. He vaguely wondered what his tribe were doing. No doubt they were in disarray after he had left them without a word and without any orders. Perhaps some of his men had fought and the winner had declared themselves impromptu leader. He would have to make sure to remove that title from any who dared to wield it if this was the case.

They moved through foliage and trees, the haunting shadows of the branches following them as the moon descended in the sky and they continued to traverse the wilderness' mysterious depths.

'Do you want to know how I became the alpha of the eastern tribe?' Kouga asked after a considerable time of nothing other than the rustle of the trees and the hard crackle of splintering earth and debris beneath their feet.

Kagome was silent, not quite ready to speak, but looked at Kouga with a curiosity that urged him to continue.

'I killed the old leader. He allowed me to join his pack, and when I did I bided my time increasing my strength. I lived off of his charity and when the time came, I killed him without remorse. I ripped his head clean off with my bare hands and then I fed it to his own wolves in front of his own pack.'

'Why are you telling me this?' Kagome asked lowly, an icy chill in her voice.

'Because I'm a demon, and it's what we do. It's not about connecting with our feelings or whatever bullshit you said; that's not in our nature and it never will be. It's better if you just continue to hate me for it than to struggle to find some kind of deeper humanity in me that isn't there. It'll only end in disappointment for you if you do.'

'I don't hate you-' Kagome began before Kouga interrupted her sombrely.

'Sure you do, deep down.'

Kagome sighed wearily. 'I don't hate you.' She repeated sternly, leaving no room for argument. 'I just…I can't accept the way you cut yourself off from your own emotions and don't even try to change. And I certainly can't accept or condone the things that you do to other humans or to other demons either.'

'It's just what we do.'

'Honestly Kouga, I don't want to hear it anymore. If you want to rationalise your own shortcomings that way then fine, but I'm done listening to it.' Kagome snapped, irritated and annoyed by the conversation that just seemed to go round and round in circles. It angered her how stubborn he was, and how quick he was to absolve himself of any blame for his actions simply by stating that he was a demon.

'Why are you even here?' Kouga abruptly asked the question that had been consuming his thoughts for the past few hours. 'Why are you still here with me now?'

'It's not as if I have a choice, if I ran you'd just catch me and bring me back against my will.' Kagome mumbled unconvincingly. They both knew at this point that that wasn't true.

'If you want to leave at anytime then you can leave. I'll even escort you back to the well myself. Nobody is forcing you to be here, Kagome.' He reinforced this, just in case.

Kagome looked conflicted, gulping audibly as Kouga watched her larynx shoot up and down.

'I don't know,' she finally spoke, 'maybe I'm hoping that it'll bring me some closure? Something just feels unfinished I suppose...and I guess despite everything I've already said, I still want to know you.' It was true that Kouga interested her; after all he was the ruthless leader of the eastern wolf demon tribe, yet he had grown over the weeks to be relatively tolerant of her, a human, whereas all of his pack-mates made it crystal clear that they would kill her on site. He was supposed to be the most callous and powerful of them all, yet on occasions he had even shown her some kindness, whereas the vast majority of his pack showed no desire to even consider changing. Kagome couldn't deny that this fascinated her – why out of all of the wolves in the caves would it be the strongest and most feared of them all that would come to tolerate her?

Kouga digested her words, intrigued. So she still wanted to know him? He wondered what would push a human who had been treated so badly by both his pack and by himself to feel this way. Was it that she was too curious, or too stupid for her own good?

'The same question goes for you too, you know. Why are you even here with me? Why do you even care that you upset me?'

Kouga was reluctant to answer this question, partly because he wasn't even sure himself. He mulled it over, debating the validity of the answers that came to mind, and in the end spoke the one that felt the most true.

'…you don't bore me,' Kouga started hesitantly, 'and even though most of the time being around you pisses me off since you disobey me at every possible opportunity, sometimes I actually enjoy being in your company.'

Kagome pushed him further, his admissions arousing her curiosity. 'Ok, so sometimes you enjoy my company. Would you be sad, then, if something happened to me? Something like if I died?' His opinion of humans was pellucid in its transparency: they revolted him and were little more than annoyances in his world. So how, then, could he 'enjoy her company' even occasionally?

Kouga scrunched his nose at her question, clearly finding the idea distasteful. 'Why would I be sad about that?'

'Because when people you care about die, it's sad?'

'What makes you think I care about you?' He scoffed, almost offended by her assertion of emotion on his part. He could name the amount of people that he cared about on one hand, and even then he was dubious as to how deep his loyalty to them actually went. Ginta and Hakkaku sprang to mind. They had been faithful friends for many years and he had no doubt that they would risk their lives for him. He, too, would do the same, but he considered other scenarios. What if, for some reason, he was forced between choosing them or choosing leadership of the tribe? Kouga would likely go so far as to look in their eyes as he ripped out their hearts if that was his choice, as he would not tolerate going back to being an insignificant, worthless beta again and if they had to be sacrificed for that, then so be it. He chuckled darkly; he really was a selfish bastard.

'Why else would you wait for me if you didn't care?' She asked inquisitively.

A good question, for which he had no answer. Why had he waited for her? He thought back to the searing thump in his chest when Kagome had confronted him, eyes misted with tears and shuddered the recollection away as it began to bring back feelings that he did not want to relive. He was sure that he could not possibly have come to care for feeble human, but still he just couldn't seem to let the girl fall from his grasp. He held on tightly to the only thought that felt true as he vocalised it:

'I guess I feel connected to you somehow, too.'

Kagome nodded uneasily, accepting Kouga's words as the truth. They continue to traipse further, but by this point her legs had begun to ache dully and she suggested that they might as well both return to the caves for the time being. She rubbed at her thighs that were exposed far more than Kouga felt was appropriate for a female human, and Kouga whisked her onto his back wordlessly as if reading her mind.

He began to run; suddenly very desperate to return to his home and begin unravelling whatever chaos had befallen it in his absence. The warmth that Kagome's body emitted was pleasant on his skin, and Kagome equally enjoyed the comforting feeling that holding onto his broad, manly shoulders gave her. She inhaled his woodsy, rugged scent, and that calmed her too. They both continued travelling until they reached the caves, both still uneasy and confused.

* * *

They had arrived at the caves late at night, and to Kouga's surprise the tribe was relatively chaos-free. There had been a few incidents of in-fighting, one of which lead to the loss of eye, but that was to be expected in a wolf's den. It was the following morning and Kouga patrolled his land confidently. Upon his arrival, he had placed Kagome on the ground gently, and then grabbed her arm authoritatively as he pulled her into the entrance cave in a show of macho bullshit that she did not appreciate. His pack began to cheer as his energy alerted everyone to his arrival, before abruptly stopping and transforming into a strangely subdued silence. His recent mood swings had left the pack unsure of how to properly greet him.

The night had been…awkward to say the least. His men groaned and whined at the sight of the human. Many complained of having to be subjected to the smell of human again, and Kouga whispered to Kagome to retire to his room for now, warning her not to be seen entering it. He still had a reputation to uphold, after all. No woman had ever been inside his own personal chambers before, even those he had bedded, and he was not about to share that he had broken his own most sacred rule just for a little human.

As he watched her scamper away quickly, sticking to the edges of the cave to avoid as many wolves as she could, he replayed their earlier conversation over and over. He hated to admit it, but her words had stung and he was desperate to forget that ache.

And so he drank.

He drank so much that for the first time since adolescence he actually lost his composure and became intoxicated. He laughed and shouted with his men uproariously, who relished the chance to get a rare moment with their leader with his guard down. Eventually, he stumbled back to his chamber, falling through the doors and headfirst onto Kagome's shoulder.

She shrieked as he did so, her shoulder immediately aching with the sensation of a hard demon skull crashing into her frail human bone. Her shoulder bruised almost instantly, and she braced an arm to his head and pushed him off of her forcefully with another cry. Kouga tried to ask what she was even doing crouching down right in front of the door in the first place, but judging by the confusion evident on her face when he began to speak, it seemed as though his words had been nothing more than a jumbled mess.

Reproachfully, and with the saddest eyes he had ever seen, Kagome scooted to the other side of the room away from him, holding her shoulder pitifully as she deliberately tried to make him feel bad for his infliction of the injury.

Kouga tried to corral her into bed, but she insisted he take it. In the end, neither of them lazed upon its heavenly softness as Kagome remained hunched over in the corner and Kouga joined her, sitting next to her awkwardly on the hard stone floor. After a while of intense concentration and sheer willpower, Kouga managed to sober up enough to convince Kagome to let him peruse her latest bruise. He winced as the circular slant of her shoulder had already begun to stain a deep purple. He considered making a joke about the fragility of humans, and then decided against it. He rubbed her shoulder apologetically as lightly and tenderly as a creature as powerful as himself could manage, and this seemed to placate her somewhat.

They stayed this way for the rest of the night, but neither of them slept.

Rather than waking up with a killer hangover, as the moon modestly made way for the flamboyant sun, Kouga's drunkenness slowly began to metabolise into what was at first just a niggle and then quickly progressed into a full-blown migraine.

Kagome was yawning constantly by the time Kouga had unwillingly decided that he had to make his rounds of his men and organise the day's hunt, and he slid her into the cool covers of his extravagant bed with nothing more than a low grumble of protest from the girl. He told her to rest and promised that he would not return for at least a few hours in order to let her do so without interruption.

He had set out relatively early – just after sunset – and so even though it had indeed been a few hours since he left his chambers, it was still decidedly morning. The sun shone in the way that it only did in the early hours of the day, and the grass beneath his feet was still crisp and springy, having had a night to recover from stomping feet. The air was freshly delicious; each lungful feeling twice as refreshing than it would have had it grown stale later in the day. But Kouga had not slept yet, and his head pounded more than he could ever remember. He was not prone to hangovers, and he wondered if today's was perhaps more to do with the conversation that he had had the night before.

He rubbed his eyes wearily; he had to return to his chambers now. He hoped that he had given Kagome enough time to at least get some sleep.

Kouga couldn't recall a time that he had felt so physically drained, and he became concerned, deciding it was best for him to get back to the privacy of his chambers as quickly as possible. After all, not all of his tribe were his friends (in fact many of them weren't) and if he was seen being this bleary-eyed, a nefarious opportunist could use this as a chance to dispatch him of his title, and likely his head. He stumbled during the walk back, grazing against the jagged rock wall uncomfortably as he did so. He began to bleed, though he did not bother to check, instead letting the oddly soothing warmth seep down his arm and drip to the ground.

Upon arrival, he flung open the door and then closed it rapidly, noting with some surprise that Kagome was not asleep on his bed before launching himself onto it. The small, startled squeak that arose when he did so allowed him to locate Kagome as being at the foot of his bed.

'Why are you on the floor?' Kouga's muffled voice groaned, distorted from being face down on his pillows.

'I was waiting for you.' She answered, as scuffling noises indicated that she had raised herself from the ground.

'On the floor?' Kouga repeated.

'The bed was too comfy,' the directness of her voice suggested that she stood facing him now, and he heard her clothes rustled as she shrugged, 'I didn't want to fall asleep before you came back again.'

'Sleep will do you good, you're tired.' He responded, clearly disapproving of her actions. Whatever talking she desired to do could wait until she had allowed her mind to rest properly.

'This is important.' She stated simply, and waited for him to remove his face from his pillow and face her. He obliged.

'Well?' He prompted.

Kagome sighed rather tiredly. 'I just wanted to apologise for the things I said last night,' she began tentatively, wondering if Kouga would even accept her apology, 'I'm sorry.'

Kouga's brows sloped inwards. 'Don't be. You were just being honest.' He waved a hand flippantly, but his chest ached a little.

'Still though, I was more than a little harsh. I've been thinking about what you said to those other two demons about me since last night as well…I mean really thinking about it. I've been trying to do just the opposite since I overheard you, and I think that because of that I never even tried to see it from your point of view. What I'm trying to say is: I don't blame you for saying what you did about me anymore, Kouga.'

Kouga sat up a little straighter, drawing his sculpted body upwards, his curiosity piqued.

'I tried to put myself in your position. I thought about how much the other wolf demons hate me, and I tried to imagine myself as their ruler. I thought about how much pressure that must put on you, and more importantly I thought about how they would react if you told them that you didn't hate me the way that they did.'

Kouga's downturned face mirrored her own reaction to the hypothetical scenario.

'Exactly. And when I thought of that I understood why you'd say what you did. I won't lie, it did hurt me and it still kind of does, but I deliberately chose not to even consider your side of the story and to automatically blame you. That's not the person I try to be as I pride myself on being able to be fair and empathetic, and on this occasion I purposefully stopped myself from being that way.'

Kouga paused a beat. 'So…you aren't mad at me anymore?'

Kagome smiled kindly in response. 'No, I'm not mad at you anymore. But I can't exactly say that I'm entirely comfortable around you either. You've spent most of the time that I've been here either threatening me or confusing me, and I don't really know anything about you.'

She closed her mouth for a split second as if waiting for Kouga to speak, but then changed her mind and began to speak again.

'Plus, I've been thinking that it would be nice to have someone to help me look for the jewel shards, and that is the reason you initially bought me here in the first place. There's not much I can do as a human looking for them alone-' a twinge of doubt. She ignored it. '-so I could really use some help on that front.'

Kouga cocked his to the side, not unlike a listening dog. 'Why are you looking for them in the first place?'

'It's a long story, but…I maybe kinda actually was the one who broke the sacred jewel shard in the first place.'

Kouga's face was shockingly unperturbed by her admission. 'I'm not surprised.' He said, monotone as though that kind of blunder was to be expected from her.

'Hey!' Kagome chided light-heartedly.

'What will you do when we find the shards? Obviously my pack is going to want to use them.' Kouga began thinking practically through his migraine, his brain feeling as though it was wading through quicksand.

Kagome shrugged uncertainly. 'I think the end result for me is to have the sacred jewel destroyed; after all it causes so much bloodshed and pain…but that's way in the future. For now, I don't have a problem with you guys _using_ the shards, but I am concerned with what you'll use them f _or_.'

Kouga nodded, she was being very reasonable indeed. He could, however, envision a conflict of interests between the two further down the line, which could present a real problem.

'How about we just cross that bridge when we get to it? We've only found one so far, and you're using that one.' She suggested fairly. Kouga chuckled at her strange and frequent metaphors.

'That sounds reasonable.' He winced and put his head in his hands as his throbbing brain decided that it had had enough of being ignored. As he lifted his deeply tanned arms to his head, he offered Kagome a glance of viscous red.

'Kouga! Your arm!' She cried out perhaps a bit too loudly than what the situation called for. She blushed at her overreaction before climbing onto the bed herself to examine it further. The gash in his arm was relatively deep, deeper than she expected and still bleeding.

Kouga tried to disregard the injury. 'Don't worry about that. It'll heal.'

'It might get infected if you leave it like that, plus it's dripping all over the bed.'

He shrugged. 'Someone will clean it.'

Kagome huffed disapprovingly before uttering something about a 'first aid kit' in her bag. She retrieved said item – a small puce box with strange smelling objects in it – and set to work stemming the blood flow, cleaning the wound and bandaging it up. Upon completion of her task, Kouga admired her handiwork. The bandage now wrapped around his upper arm was neat and tidy and pristine white, and when she tended to his wounds her touch was soft and attentive.

'You're good at this.' He complimented with awe.

'I know a thing or two about first aid.' She replied modestly, adjusting the bandage slightly to suit her high standards of health care. 'Now, what can we do about that headache?'

'How do you know I have a headache?' He asked, childish in tone.

'Because you drank yourself into a stupor last night, caused me grievous bodily harm and you literally just face-planted into a pillow.' She explained with more than a hint of amusement.

''Face-planted'?' He mirrored before turning his attention to her shoulder. The strange fabric of the different and unfamiliar clothing that she wore fell off of her shoulder daintily and exposed part of the deep purple bruise. Kouga cringed. 'How is it?'

'Painful. Like someone head-butted it with their huge head.' She teased, quirking an eyebrow good-naturedly.

Kouga felt bad. She had taken the injury in her stride and seemed to be in a good mood about it now, but still he couldn't believe that he had managed to cause such a deeply violent bruise on her flesh by accident. He really would have to try to remember how delicate she was. Not thinking entirely coherently, he picked up the rest of the bandage in a moment of inspiration and pushed her clothing from her shoulder tentatively, hoping that Kagome would not take offence at his actions. He began to attempt to wrap the bruise, but it very quickly became clear that this was not an effective solution. Abandoning any serious thought of healing, he began to wrap the bandage haphazardly around her shoulder, going so far as to pull the fabric under her still-clothed armpit and back up to the top of her shoulder again.

Kagome watched amusedly, before bursting into laughter when he decided that her face could also use some TLC, courtesy of an entire roll of bandage. She swatted his hands away like one would swat a fly and removed the bandages from her being, rolling it back into a neat ball.

Still chuckling, she asked: 'What exactly do you think wrapping a bandage around a bruise will do anyway?'

'I don't know,' head cocked to the side, 'isn't it some kind of magic healing device for wounds?'

'Magic?' Kagome repeated in surprise. 'No, of course not! It's just meant to be applied to open wounds to help stop the bleeding and to prevent infection. Don't you have bandages?' She asked, perplexed. She was sure that when she had fallen from the cliff she had awoken to find herself wrapped in them.

'Well, yeah,' he began, 'but they don't look or _smell_ anything like these ones.'

'So you just assumed they were magic?'

He shrugged. 'You live on the other side of a magic well.'

Touché. She could see his point.

She had settled now, no longer laughing. She took a moment to indulge her girlish whims and gazed into his eyes, careful not to get lost. She admired the vibrant cerulean that coloured his irises and spent a moment counting the flecks of ice-white within them. Whim satisfied, she touched a delicate fingertip to his forehead.

'Come here,' she gestured, placing a pillow on her knee. Kouga looked at her inquisitively. 'Lie down.' She clarified.

Tentatively, he obeyed, unsure as to what her motive was. As he rested his head onto the cool fabric, she began to press her fingers into his hair as if his head was a fragile china teacup. She moved her fingers back and forth, creating a delicious tingle in Kouga's body as she massaged gently.

'I don't know if this will work on a headache caused by a hangover,' she stated chidingly, voice quiet and in keeping with the dainty movements of her fingers, 'but when I was little and I got a headache my mum always used to do this to me, and it really helped.'

Kouga supposed it was nurturing. It was an intimate gesture, but not one of romance. It was more…familial than that. He had never experienced a touch like this from his own mother, and he began to get worryingly close to feeling that absence. She was dangerous, this human. In mere weeks she had came close many-a-time to unravelling all of the emotions that he had kept tightly sealed away. He allowed his eyes to flutter closed, instead focussing on how pleasant the sensation of her ministrations felt. It was nice to be touched this way; Kouga couldn't remember if he had ever been touched like this by anyone. His childhood certainly left a lot to be desired, and the women that he had had sex with would not dare. He made sure before he slept with them that they knew how he liked his sexual encounters to be: lusty, intense and satisfying, but wrapped up quickly upon completion. When he slept with a woman, he expected them to leave immediately after. He had no desire to engage in meaningless loving embraces or any further touching at all; by that time anyway they had both gotten what they had wanted, and Kouga had no interest in pursuing anything else. Of course, most of the women he slept with wished to claim him, to put their mark on him and become his mate. This was an inevitability of both power and attractiveness, but Kouga had no intention of settling down with anyone. He preferred his own company over anyone else's and he knew for a fact that if push came to shove he would choose himself over anyone else also. Perhaps not in battle – he would gladly die for his men – but in any other circumstance he was selfish, and had no wish to compromise or be governed by anyone else, especially not by a lover.

Still, the little human's gentle massage was rather pleasing and so he relished this rare moment in which he let another caress him in a way that wouldn't end in sex.

After a while, Kouga's breathing became heavier and Kagome could tell that he had fallen into a restful slumber. She continued her actions for some time, finding it relaxing to do so. It was strange how differently a person could feel within less than 24 hours. She had arrived in this time wanting to scream at the man lying in her lap, and now she found herself wanting to soothe him. She was also as exhausted as him, as the limited sleep that she had gotten in Kouga's absence had been fitful, their conversation from last night replaying over and over in her head and preventing slumber. Still, she had awoken with a new sense of understanding for the complicated wolf lying in her lap.

It was times like these as she watched him sleep, purring like a kitten, that Kagome really saw the humanity in him. It was a shame that he could not see it for himself. Blinded by what she had perceived as betrayal, she had convinced herself to forget it, but confronted with his gentler side head on like this, how could she deny it existed? Kouga was not like the rest of the wolves; that much she could tell. In some ways he was much more brutal and animalistic, but in others he was calmer and certainly kinder. It saddened her to find that he thought so little of himself, resigning himself to a shallow life with the excuse that 'he's a demon'.

She pondered the connection that seemed intent on drawing her back to him again and again. It wasn't so much familiarity as it seemed to be with Inuyasha, but it was comforting in a similar way. It was a belief that no matter how awful Kouga was, he was capable of being equally as kind. Her belief in this was so strong that she could have sworn that she had witnessed this type of kindness from him before, though she reasoned that she couldn't possibly have. The tender moments that she had shared with him until this point would not have been enough to foster her absolute belief in his humanity, though they certainly helped to legitimise it. She thought of his eyes as he spoke about his mother again, and then she pushed the thought quickly from her head. She was tired and did not have enough energy to deal with any residual sadness that the memory may bring.

Carefully and slowly, she leaned her body backwards until it was lying vertically on the bed. Within seconds of her head hitting the mattress, she was asleep.

* * *

When Kagome awoke it was much later, perhaps the early hours of the following day. She looked down at Kouga's form, still peacefully asleep. He had changed position now, his head resting on her stomach almost uncomfortably heavy, and his arms gripping both sides of her hips gently. She fought to extract herself from this position as delicately as possible so as not to awaken him.

Kagome was thirsty and her body ached a little from being in the same position for hours on end. She moved quietly to the window in the cave wall, pushing its coverings away as she took in the skyline and the view. A misty purple that faded into a vivid tangerine patterned the sky like watercolour. The sun was rising, and Kagome wondered in awe if they had really been sleeping for almost an entire day.

The beginning of such a beautiful morning was too great of an opportunity to miss, and so she took the chance to creep from the room, safe in the knowledge that it was early enough that she would not likely encounter any other demons as she ventured outside. She wondered uncertainly for a while whether she should be going outdoors at all without Kouga's permission, but it seemed that their relationship had developed to the point that she could not envision him chastising her in any way for it.

The breeze was temperate and enjoyable on her skin. The sun visibly made its ascent, and Kagome watched as it climbed to its rightful spot in the sky.

'Kagome!' The cheery voice made her jump. She placed a clutching hand over her chest and whipped round to find the owner of the young voice. Her tone was not threatening, but she found herself constantly wary and alert when outside of the safety of Kouga's bedroom.

'Where have you been?!' The voice whooped enthusiastically as the young girl, shorter and thinner than Kagome wrapped her arms around Kagome's waist and picked her up effortlessly in a shocking display of strength.

'Nami!' Kagome laughed unevenly, jarred and heart still pounding. 'I, um, I had some things to take care of in my village.'

'And Kouga just let you go?' Nami asked wide-eyed and in awe. 'I thought you were just a slave?'

'Hang on a second, I'm nobody's slave.' Kagome bristled, disliking being referred to as such. Nami continued to survey her, unconvinced. 'I guess Kouga is trying to keep me happy since he wants me to collect jewel shards for him.'

'Why would he do that?' She asked, genuinely perplexed. He delicate pink-orchid hair bounced as she shifted her weight from side-to-side restlessly. 'I assumed if you disobeyed he'd just eat you.'

'Gee, thanks for sounding so upset about that.' Kagome responded sardonically, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

'I'd be _really_ upset about it,' Nami exclaimed innocently, 'but that wouldn't stop him from eating you.'

Kagome exhaled uncertainly. 'I guess he's trying a new tactic?'

Nami put a hand to her chin rather theatrically to consider Kagome's words.

'How's your brother?' Kagome interjected before she began thinking too hard about it.

'He's fine now. His face has just about healed.' She paused, before presenting Kagome head on with a big, beaming smile. 'He absolutely _hates_ you.'

'Great,' Kagome threw her hands up exasperatedly. 'I'll add him to the list.'

'Don't worry, I tell him how nice you are all the time.' She reassured Kagome, her amused smile cracking even wider with admiration.

'Well try not to irritate him too much.' Kagome patted the little wolf's head fondly, concerned that she would incite her brother's temper if she spoke too kindly of her.

The two chatted aimlessly for a while, enjoying the sunrise and each other's company. Nami told Kagome of her preference for early rising when she inquired as to why she was awake so early, and Kagome told Nami of her return home…minus all the stuff about magical wells and the fact that she lived in the actual future. The purple of the sky eventually dissipated into a vibrant blue, and the orange began to fade.

After some time, Nami's nose twitched and she opened her eyes wide in alarm. Spinning around, she gave the deepest bow possible as Kagome looked on in confusion. Only seconds later, Kouga emerged from the exit of the caves.

Kagome cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow that wondered 'should I be doing that?'. Kouga's own quirked eyebrow mirrored, 'shouldn't you be doing that?' back at her.

Kouga's face looked calm and rested, and so Kagome breathed easily in the knowledge that he was not angry at her for having left his chambers.

'You remember Nami, right?' She directed the question at him, and the little girl still in full-bow jumped at the sound of her name.

'No.' Kouga replied bluntly, his face blank.

Kagome tutted and urged Nami to stand up straight and show her face in order to try and prompt his memory. When returned to a vertical position, she was a bright crimson, and she looked very clearly uncomfortable.

'You broke her brother's face that one time, remember?'

'Oh, you mean Takeshi's sister?' Recognition filled his eyes and he scrutinised Nami thoroughly. 'She's shorter than I remember.'

'My lord!' She cried, once again bowing, her courteous address of her alpha surprising him just as much as Kagome. Kouga never was much of a fan of pretence. 'I want to apologise for what happened the last time we met, and for burdening you with my presence today. My brother is also truly is sorry for disobeying you.' She spoke as formally as she could, using every big word she could think of.

'Burdening him? How are you burdening him?' Kagome interjected, not understanding in the slightest what Nami had to apologise for in that regard. Nami stole a quick glance at her leader as if to ask permission to speak, and then hurriedly explained to Kagome:

'The members of the tribe that are too young to fight are never supposed to speak to Kouga directly.' She whispered.

'And why the hell not?' Kagome demanded at a much, much higher volume, making Nami freeze in shock at her audacity.

'It's just a rule I have. I don't like dealing with kids.' Kouga explained, as if that was in any way reasonable.

'But what if they need to talk to you about something?'

'If I wanted to talk to little girls, I'd spend more time in the nursery.' He answered irately, clearly not fond of the idea of having to interact with children or adolescents alike.

'Oh, but you'd interact with the younger boys?' Kagome asked accusingly, ready to defend her rights as a woman at a moment's notice.

'Ugh, no. They're even worse.' Kouga groaned, thinking back to the occasions before he had implemented his rule when flocks of teenage boys and children would hang on to his every word, mimicking him in a display of revolting admiration.

'You're so ridiculous.' She scoffed, pushing Nami's hands away when they tried to cover her mouth desperately. 'You better start talking to Nami this instant.'

'About what?' He asked, alarmed. What could he possibly have to say to a teenage girl?

'I don't know! Ask her about boys, or about make up or fashion or something!' Now both demons appeared confused.

'Um. So…what do you think of…boys?' Kouga asked dubiously, unsure as to whether this was what Kagome meant when she told him to speak to her.

'They're…fine?' Nami responded, turning to Kagome questioningly.

'Don't look at me!' She cried exasperatedly. 'Just have a normal conversation!'

Alpha and beta bumbled through awkward conversation for a few laboured minutes, before Kagome cut them off, irate with their inability to converse normally. She instead instructed Kouga to stand quietly and listen to them chat in preparation for next time. Kouga groaned mentally, questioning why he would want to suffer through yet another of these painfully awkward encounters with the younger members of his tribe, but Kagome seemed adamant and despite her irritation she also seemed happy, and he didn't want to sour that with petulance.

Nami was more than startled to see first-hand the interaction between her ruthless leader, the one that commanded respect above all else, and a simple human. Fond of Kagome as she was, Nami was aware that she was in the minority in these caves, and she had never seen her leader be anything other than stoic and quietly powerful. Today, however, he had willingly obeyed a human, and even smiled at her, entertaining her commands good-naturedly.

Nervous as she was, Nami even began to join in with their conversation herself (once Kouga was deemed to be allowed to speak again, of course) and her leader even responded to her at times, looking her in the eyes in a way that wasn't _entirely_ threatening.

Kouga supposed, as the last of the sunset's vibrant colours melted away into clear blue, that standing with the three as they chatted amiably was rather familial. He also found that he unable to be entirely comfortable with it. After Nami had excused herself, likely to prepare breakfast for her soon-to-be rousing brother, Kouga let out a sigh of relief. Strangely, he felt much more comfortable alone with the human girl than he did with one of his own kind.

'How did you know I was here?' Kagome inquired.

'I tracked your scent. Plus, when I woke up and you weren't still in bed it was pretty easy to guess where you'd be.'

Kagome hummed her response. After several moments of comfortable silence, Kouga spoke again.

'I think you should start calling me 'my lord'.' He beamed with a Cheshire cat grin.

* * *

 **YAS. DONE. I'm currently writing this from within a dry bathtub, a hyperactive hamster crawling and pooping all over me. Just thought I'd give you some insight into where I'm currently at in my life right now.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! I make no promises as to maintaining this chapter length coz let's be honest, we'll probably be back to 7000 word chapters next week.**

 **Please review or favourite or follow or whatever you want if you'd like to! As I said above, if you have any ideas about how the plot of the story is going to progress, let me know in the reviews! I'm very curious as to whether anyone has a similar way of thinking to me ;)**

 **Thanks for reading, and until next time guys~**


	10. Chapter 10

**So sorry for the delay guys! I've had not writer's block but more writer's...apathy? For some reason it's just been a difficult chapter to write, even though I had it all planned out before I'd even wrote it. Anyway, I apologise for the delay, I'm trying to keep my schedule to once every two weeks.**

 **I hope that you all enjoy this chapter; I don't have too much to say about it this time, shockingly, other than that!**

 **Oh yeah, one more thing. Sex scenes. What do you guys think about them? Should this story have one? It is rated M so I suppose it probably should, plus I have no qualms with writing one...let me know!**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 10**

'-sick and tired and of having to play nice with the human-'

'-don't know why Kouga doesn't just eat her already-'

'-I saw him _laughing_ with the human-'

'-can she actually even see the jewel shards at all?'

'-maybe _we_ should just eat her instead-'

'-the sooner the human's gone, the better.'

The caves were abuzz with heated anger, vaguely disguised as gossip. Kouga could sense it.

The brief respite that the pack had shared from Kagome's presence seemed to have bolstered their standoffishness, and with it their bravery to speak out. Kouga couldn't help but admit that he was shocked at their level of distaste for the human, after all her presence had a rather lucrative purpose for the pack and Kouga had not anticipated such passionate resistance. Kouga's pack in particular – even before he had taken power – had never utilised the labour of human slaves as some other packs did, largely due to their particular dislike for humans, however Kouga assumed that as Kagome had such a unique skill that was guaranteed to bring strength and power to the pack, they would begrudgingly accept her presence.

Instead, their opposition was strong.

Kouga contemplated why this could be. Was it perhaps the lack of any actual progress? They had only managed to acquire so far one jewel shard, and as Kouga had retained it for his use alone, it benefitted the pack only in an indirect way. This posed a problem for Kouga, as if his pack was so intently dissatisfied then it would not be long before a call to action would be made. Though confident in his ability to do so, he was reluctant to continue to fight the members of his pack each time an issue arose in order to get them to back down, as such an imposition of his power would undoubtedly lower morale among the men and women that he commanded. As a result, this would likely lead to increased coup attempts, more death, and then an even _greater_ decrease in morale. He severely doubted whether continuing to massacre his tribe when they pissed him off was ideal for fostering loyalty.

He chuckled darkly for a moment, remembering the last time his temper had gotten the best of him and ended in corpses. It was to be expected to some extent for death to occur in the wolf demon tribe: they were aggressive by nature. Wolf packs usually anticipated this and were expected to mourn their lost ones with no real anger or bitterness...though this was often not the case. However, since Kouga had been particularly agitated that day, the victims had all but asked for it by attempting to engage in fight. Still, though forgiven on occasion, making murder a habit was never a good choice for a leader who did not want to be a dictator. And there was always the concern that if he riled too many of his pack-mates up that they would band together as one, single, furious entity and try to overthrow him in unison, which was clearly not an ideal outcome in any situation.

Provisions would have to be made to ensure that it did not reach that stage, he decided.

A throaty laugh.

Kouga switched his attention back to the gratingly chirpy woman at his side.

'So, where's your shadow?' She asked amusedly sarcastic as she leant against the cool stone of the rock wall behind her.

'Not here, thank God.' Kouga sighed a breath of relief; he really did mean it. It had been a few days since he and Kagome had traversed back from the mystical well, and since that time she had clung to him like a lost puppy following anyone with the scent of food. He was well aware that being in the caves was not a particularly comfortable or pleasant experience for her on account of all of the wolf demons that wanted her dead, but prior to this she had coped by merely staying isolated and alone for most of the day. Was it really too much to ask her to do this again? He supposed she was probably lonely, but in that case why couldn't she just spend more time with Nami? Why did she insist on following him around everywhere? He had mentioned Nami in passing to her, cautiously optimistic that his suggestion would subconsciously stick and she would begin to spend her time with the young girl instead, but with real sadness in her eyes she spoke of her concerns. She was worried that too much of a presence around Nami would anger her brother, and most of all would cause her to become an outcast in the pack. Kouga supposed she had a point. Still, she was creating a similar problem for him. Her insistence on remaining in his presence meant that he had to stay out of sight of the pack for fear of starting any more rumours or fanning any more fires. It would not be taken well if it were discovered that Kouga was tolerant of the girl. It was already concerning to him that Nami knew of their odd kind of understanding: he did not know her and nor was he particularly fond of her. His apathy toward Nami was not for any particular reason of course, it was just that Kouga was not partial to wasting his time with teenage girls.

He found himself briefly considering why Kagome was suddenly so comfortable around him as to feel secure enough to follow him everywhere. The prior events of that night had, he admitted reluctantly, changed the nature of their relationship some. There was a new honesty among them and they had even gone so far as to enter into an agreement vis-à-vis the jewel shards, _and_ they had been getting along surprisingly amiably. Regardless, however, her persistent presence was beginning to become somewhat of an annoyance.

He turned his eyes pleadingly to Katsumi. 'You're a woman.'

'Glad you could tell.'

'Why don't you take the little human for a while? I mean, you could talk about…fashion and boys and make up,' he began, struggling to recite the topics of conversation of which Kagome had suggested he talk about with Nami. Katsumi cocked her head to the side rather wolfishly, completely lost. 'You know, girl stuff.' He clarified.

'No thanks,' she dismissed uninterestedly with a toss of her hair, 'I have better things to do than to babysit a human.'

'Do you?' Kouga answered sceptically. 'Because from what I've seen you mostly just lounge around barking orders at my men.'

Katsumi shrugged innocently in a way that didn't convince anyone. 'Sometimes I get thirsty and I need a big, strong man to carry all the alcohol that I'm going to consume.'

Kouga laughed outright at this; annoying as she could be, he really was grateful at times that Katsumi was a part of his pack.

'If she annoys you that much then why don't you just eat her?' She glanced from underneath deliberately nonchalant eyelashes, gauging his response carefully.

Kouga opened his mouth to parrot the words that he had spoken so many times before, but Katsumi held up a hand authoritatively in a way that would have ended in a broken neck for anybody else.

''For the jewel shards',' she mimicked unflatteringly, 'please. We both know it's about more than that.'

She paused for the briefest of seconds, considering her thoughts before she spoke again.

'I spoke to her when she was healing. She didn't seem particularly interesting or special to me. Braver than the average human…or maybe just more stupid. Either way, she was pretty unremarkable. So why is it that you keep her around, exactly? Is it because she's pretty?' She guessed earnestly now, trying to delve deep into what made her ruthless leader tick.

'Her? Pretty?' His face bunched up in disgust. 'She's a human.'

'And that means she can't be attractive?' Katsumi replied with an unladylike snort.

'Obviously.' Kouga grumbled, aggravated. 'Why do you ask? Perhaps you've got a secret human lover, hm?' His tone changed quickly, and he jeered at her with great amusement.

'If human men were able to handle me then I assure you, I would have eloped with one a long time ago. They're much more obedient, you know, and far less full of themselves.'

Her frank response irked him into a disgruntled silence. He had momentarily considered deriding her for this, his discomfort in her words spurring the urge, but Katsumi had and always would be the most confident woman he'd ever met and he decided against it, realising that his words would not affect her in the least.

Eventually, he settled for a half-hearted joke.

'That must be why you've never been interested in me, then.'

'I've never been interested in you because you're more of a child than you are a man.' She answered immediately, using words so blunt that they ricocheted off of his skin like he was being pelted with rocks.

In a rare display of conscience, Katsumi expanded for Kouga's sake: 'You know, emotionally.'

A small waif of a man approached, and Kouga recognised him as the wolf that he had put in charge of the day's hunt. Being truthful, Kouga couldn't care less who lead the hunt as long as it wasn't him, and he had chosen this particular demon to lead it in a fleeting 'fuck it' moment that he had had, for no other reason than comedic value.

The demon was small and scrawny, and undoubtedly one of the weakest of the pack. Kouga doubted that he would even be able to beat the children in the tribe. He had chosen him on a whim, darkly entertained as he struggled to try and control an unruly pack of men, all of whom were stronger than him. Kouga really could be an asshole at times; even he had to admit it.

He was clearly nervous, and seemed to be on the cusp of speech.

'Ah ah.' Katsumi held up her hand again, back firmly turned to the unimposing demon with one finger wagging as if to a naughty child. She offered no further vocal cues, body language all it took to make it explicitly clear to the demon that she wished for him to leave.

His eyes darted back and forth like perceptive cattle being lead to the slaughter.

'K-Kouga-' He stammered, taking a hesitant step forward.

'I said 'ah ah'.' Katsumi chastised, calmly agitated at having to actually turn and face him. The demon looked imploringly at his leader.

'She said 'ah ah'.' He parroted with a helpless shrug of the shoulders in a way that said 'what can you do'?

Worried, and even a little visibly upset, the demon silently backed off, facing them as one would face a defensive mother bear, until he was completely out of sight.

'That wasn't very nice.' Kouga chided, feigning a look of disapproval at the woman.

'Nao is a pussy. He doesn't need someone to be 'nice' to him, he needs someone to toughen him up.'

'Who?'

'Jesus Kouga, you don't even know his name? What happened to valuing all the members of your tribe?' Katsumi spoke disapprovingly, tutting as she slapped a hand across his chest as punishment.

'I value the ones that are worth being valued.' Kouga responded simply and honestly. Perhaps it was due to some small sliver of conscience in him, but Kouga had made it an unofficial rule that even the weak members of his kind were welcome in his caves, providing that they made themselves useful in other ways. Some tribes were renowned for only allowing those who were strong to remain in their ranks, forcing other, weaker wolves to leave, alone and vulnerable. Having known of this first-hand under his father's strict rules, Kouga had decided long ago that he would not impose the same orders on his tribe, however this did not mean that Kouga was particularly interested in the weaker of his pack. Harsh as it was, if they died they would not be missed in the way that an accomplished fighter would, and Kouga had even been known to deliberately position them as fodder on the front lines of battle. Of course they had always done so willingly, dying bravely and valiantly and surrendering their lives for their so-called 'wolf demon pride' and the ability to finally be useful.

Katsumi laughed throatily, unsurprised and unperturbed by his response.

There was another dainty, hesitant crunch of grass from behind him, however this time the flash of wickedness in Katsumi's eyes as she set her sight on her new target suggested that it was not Nao that had intruded upon their space.

Fighting back the urge to groan, Kouga turned to face the source of the sound. 'Kagome,' he said grimly, 'you're here.'

'Um,' she was hesitant, eyes trained on Katsumi, no doubt thinking back to their previous encounter, 'sorry to interrupt…'

Kouga began to open his mouth to admonish her, to tell her that they were discussing official wolf demon business and needed to be left alone, however Katsumi beat him to it.

'Kagome,' she greeted chirpily, but not entirely sincerely, 'I see your wounds have healed well.'

'Ah, um, yes. Thank you.' For some reason Kagome found herself at a loss for words around the fiery wolf demon before her. She had a sharp tongue and a sharper mind, which left most of those around her on edge. She seemed to be constantly sarcastic and constantly judging, and her overt confidence was disconcerting considering that she was so petite that even Kagome had managed to overshadow her where height was concerned. She looked at Kouga worriedly.

'Katsumi was just leaving.' Kouga turned to constantly-derisive woman with real meaning behind his words. As usual, she ignored them.

'Was I? I remember thinking that I was in the mood for a drink, and I remember thinking that you should go and get me one so that I can get to know little Kagome better alone, but I don't remember thinking that I was going to leave.'

Kagome sent Kouga another wordless stare, this time one of clear panic.

'Sorry, my mistake,' Kouga uttered lowly through gritted teeth, 'you weren't thinking about leaving, I was _telling_ you to leave.'

By this point however, Katsumi had already made her way to Kagome, hand on hip and surveying her ruthlessly.

Kouga sighed. Katsumi had always had a way of pushing him to the limits of his patience.

Clearly more drastic measures needed to be taken.

In an instant, Kouga had Katsumi grabbed not at all delicately by the waist and hoisted up onto his shoulder. They were on a secluded grassy verge, a place where Kouga often conducted talks in private. A place in which he had spent a lot of time recently with the clingy little human. Effortlessly, and without a lot of concern for her wellbeing, Kouga walked calmly to edge the mountain, inspected the drop below with some interest, and then flung the tiny woman from his shoulders and over the edge.

Kagome screamed, covering her mouth with eyes wide in horror, and raced to the edge, Kouga almost winding her with the solid arm that he slammed into her stomach as she risked sliding off of the side of the mountain…again.

'WHAT THE HELL?!' She screeched, frantically searching for any traces of the intimidatingly defiant woman.

'She'll be fine.' Kouga said with a wince as Kagome's shrill voice pained his ears.

'YOU JUST THREW HER OFF A CLIFF!'

'She's a wolf demon.' He tried to remain calm in the face of his overwhelming irritation.

'BUT IT'S A REALLY HIGH CLIFF!'

'I jumped off of a really high cliff with you,' he replied, finally letting his ire get the best of him and slapping a stiff hand over Kagome's mouth, 'and we were fine. Wolf demons aren't as fragile as humans, and you should really try to remember that.'

'But…but why did you have to throw her off of a cliff? Couldn't you have just insisted she leave?' Kouga's reaction was so over-the-top that Kagome had trouble believing even her own eyes. A move like that was something she only ever expected to see on TV or in movies, and to be confronted with such an extraordinary – such an inhuman – action so calmly sent her heart hammering wildly in shock.

'She was annoying.' Kouga shrugged.

'But you threw her off of a _cliff_.'

'She'll climb back up eventually.'

'But it was a _cliff_.'

Kouga shrugged again.

Kagome was wary now, wondering if being by Kouga's side was the safe haven that she had judged it to be. Kouga had become relatively decent at reading the girl over the weeks, and surmised her thoughts accurately. He opened his mouth instinctively to reassure her, then closed it again, thinking that he could use it to his advantage when trying to convince her to leave him alone.

He flashed her a toothy grin, not assuaging her concerns in the slightest.

The girl bent down to Kouga's confusion for a moment, before he noticed her begin to pick an assortment of fruit off of the floor.

'What's all that?' He questioned, wondering why she would be bringing her incredibly dull menagerie of food items with her.

'Fruit.' She responded with a defeated sigh, clearly disappointed with his reaction.

'Why so much of it?'

'Because,' she paused momentarily to make a small grunting noise as she lifted her body off of the floor, fruit once again gathered in the wicker basket that Kouga had only just noticed was in her arms. Were humans really so weak that even standing up was difficult for them? 'I was going to share them with you.'

'Pass.' He responded immediately and definitely.

'What do you mean 'pass'?' Her eyes were fiery and her tone was hot.

'I mean pass. I don't want that stuff, where's the meat?'

'There is no meat. It's _fruit_.'

'Exactly, and that's why I don't want it.'

Kagome exhaled heavily.

She looked melancholy now. It irked Kouga uncomfortably, and he found himself reaching hesitantly for one of the sticky little fruits, biting and crunching it between his teeth with some forced enthusiasm. Kagome watched his mouth as he chewed, raising her eyes to his in unspoken question.

'It's not…awful.' He answered, not entirely lying. It was not a texture or flavour that he was particularly used to or fond of, but he supposed that he could handle eating an apple or two if it kept the girl happy. Her sad eyes could be rather persuasive.

A glimmer of a smile was enough to set Kouga at ease, and to assuage the prick of annoyance he felt at having succumbed to Kagome's melancholy so easily.

'You don't have to be so dismissive all the time, Kouga. Sometimes it would be nice if you just said thank you and accepted.' She had planted herself on the ground, legs crossed as she played with the stork of the sharp green apple in her hands, twisting it around and around until it snapped from the fruit satisfyingly.

'You didn't say 'just accept' and say thank you for the raw meat that I gave you once.' He retorted. Kagome re-focussed her attention on him, rather than the apple, staring at him as if he was crazy.

'Of course not, that was _raw meat_! It could've killed me!'

'Well maybe eating fruit could kill me.'

She gave a pretty laugh. 'Now you're just being ridiculous. It's fruit, not poison.'

'It tastes like poison.' Kouga quipped sulkily and in the manner of a child who had just been told to eat his vegetables.

'How would you know? You clearly haven't ever tasted poison otherwise you'd be dead.' Kagome responded in the manner of the parent offering the vegetables to the child.

Kouga opened his mouth to argue, but realising that he could not think of a comeback he closed it swiftly. He sighed dramatically before he took another bite of the source of his disdain, munching it with more forced enthusiasm whilst Kagome watched, stern and vigilant.

* * *

'Kouga!' A silver Mohawk bobbed and weaved between the throbbing crowd of demons. Kouga had been making his way back into the caves after his 'meal' with Kagome, feeling less than satiated, when the strangled-sounding voice pierced his ears. 'There you are!'

'Hakkaku,' he looked around for his inevitable shadow, greeting him as he arrived seconds later, 'Ginta.'

'We've been looking for you.' Ginta chimed, placing his hands on his thighs and bending to breathe heavily for a few seconds.

'I can see that.' He briefly wondered what Kagome intended to do whilst he tended to his pack. It turns out that by feigning more enthusiasm for her unappealing little treats, she was actually more amiable to his request for space. It was not a conversation that Kouga was looking forward to having, but with Kagome's recent clingy-ness he thought it was a necessary topic to address. He saw a flash of sadness in her eyes, but for the most part she seemed willing to oblige, even going so far as to apologise and to explain that she merely sought his company as she had felt safer with him than on her own in the caves. Kouga had mixed feelings about this: he wasn't entirely comfortable being thought of as a source of safety by a human. He supposed that old habits died hard. Regardless, his sudden appreciation of her generous snacks brightened her mood and he had managed to avoid a potentially dangerous situation with relative ease. He would have to remember this method for next time, as apparently humans were quite partial to fake compliments and flattery.

'-really lift everyone's spirits. What do you think, Kouga?' Hakkaku's voice rudely interrupted Kouga's reverie, bringing him swiftly back to the present.

'What?' He responded gruffly and rather harshly considering it was he who had not been listening to Hakkaku.

'The lunar festival. We didn't celebrate it last year since you had only just taken over command, and the pack are eager to celebrate it this time. It would really help morale.' Hakkaku explained again, condensing his words to a less irritating length.

'Hell no.' Kouga responded, his eyes glazing over at the mere mention of the troublesome festival. 'That's way too much effort. Fuck that.'

'But Kouga-' Hakkaku began, tagging Ginta in with a swift catch of the eye.

'But Kouga,' Ginta continued for him, 'the pack is really excited for the festival.'

'So? The only reason they're interested in a stupid thing like that is because they use it as an excuse to get drunk and bed women.' Kouga dismissed, incredibly against the idea of indulging their silly whims.

'It's not just about that. We also get to see our brothers and sisters from the north. You always enjoy that part.' Ginta tempted, knowing how much Kouga himself had indulged in the women from the northern tribe at the previous festivals. He still did not take the bait.

'That's exactly my point! If we had the stupid festival, isn't it supposed to be held in a couple of weeks? I'd have to go all the way to the north and escort the damn bastards back here, and that's a two-week trip there and back! I don't even know if they would even want to join us this year.'

'Well,' Ginta began before Hakkaku took over.

'We received a message from the north via one of their wolves a few days ago, saying that they would be honoured to come to the east to celebrate with us under your new rule this year.' He explained, paraphrasing.

Kouga felt an agonising sense of obligation. He looked around at the rowdy excitement in the cave, and he had no doubt that it was due to the tantalising promise of a boisterous and alcohol-laden festival. Holding the lunar festival would keep his tribe happy, please his northern brothers and strengthen their pact, whilst also allowing Kouga to mend some of the fraying relationships within his own pack that the past couple of months' events had brought about. He really couldn't find a suitable reason to deny his tribe a night of festivities, though he tried hard to.

'Why didn't you tell me about that, idiots?' He questioned angrily, thinking with faulty reasoning that if he had known about their message sooner, he would have had more time to come up with a reason to disregard it.

'Well you were…away. With Kagome.' Hakkaku referred to the time that he had spent waiting for her by the well, alone and anxious. 'And when you came back it didn't seem like the best time to talk about it.'

'Plus, it'll probably distract the rest of the wolves from Kagome.' The clincher. Ginta had Kouga with this one, and he knew it.

A defeated sigh.

'Fine. I guess I'll have to leave later today.' He turned, angry and thoroughly defeated. 'I'll take the girl with me. At least then we might be able to find some jewel shards and something useful will come out of this stupid waste of time.' He added as an irate afterthought.

'I'll have one of the women begin the preparations immediately!' Ginta exclaimed enthusiastically. It was clear that they were just as excited themselves for the festival as the rest of the pack were.

* * *

She was looking at him, curious in a childish way as he spoke to her, the round end of a weird-looking white stick in her mouth as she suckled gently.

'So we have to escort the tribe from the north back to here so they can come and celebrate a festival that wolf demons hold for the moon?'

'Basically,' Kouga sighed, becoming less and less thrilled with idea each time he heard it spoken out loud.

'Sounds fun.' Kagome smiled. Kouga was willing to bet that she wouldn't feel that way for long.

"Fun' isn't the word I'd use to describe it,' Kouga began, gathering some provisions for the journey and stuffing them into Kagome's convenient holding-sack, or 'backpack' as she liked to call it, whilst she scowled at him, the words 'I hope you're not expecting _me_ to carry all that' on the tip of her tongue. 'I hope you brought some warm clothes, the northern mountains aren't known for their pleasant weather.'

'But it's only spring.' Kagome shook her head, not quite willing to believe that there could be such a difference in climate.

'Yes, but we're in the east. They're in the north.' He spoke patronisingly slowly.

'Whatever,' she dismissed, 'I didn't bring any warm clothes anyway.'

'I guess I'll have to get you some furs from somewhere then. It's better that I do actually, at least this way you'll be dressed in appropriate attire for a human slave.'

Kagome's eyes suddenly hardened in a way that was so defiant, Kouga sighed on reflex. There was no way in hell he was getting her into any furs now.

'I'd rather freeze to death.'

'Good, because if you don't wear any warm clothes then you will.'

'Perfect.' She responded snippily, drawing the pink, circular ball from her mouth and sucking it back in again in a way that was vaguely sexual. Kagome caught him staring.

'You're such a pig.' She huffed, turning away but continuing with her actions.

Kouga quirked a disinterested eyebrow. Then he snorted. 'Please.'

'Then why were you staring at me?' She questioned angrily.

He shrugged. 'I'm still a man. If you were naked I'd probably look at that, too. Doesn't mean it would do anything for me though.'

'You. Are. Such. A. Pig.'

Kouga didn't respond, and instead busied himself with attaining at least some kind of appropriate clothing for the girl to sneak into her 'backpack' for when she finally gave in to the cold.

* * *

Kouga noted, rather incensed by the notion, how excited his pack were for him to leave yet again, and scowled, irritated, in response. He packed the light human girl, her 'backpack' and her stubbornness onto his back and braced himself to take off, wanting to complete their journey in as short a time as possible. No doubt the girl would object to this however, considering how constant her complaints of nausea when being carried by him seemed to be.

Just as he had anticipated, the further north they got, the more the little human complained. She was cold, that much was obvious, and it was all he could do to keep the smug undertones out of his voice as he asked her:

'I brought some furs along with me, Kagome. Would you like to wear them?'

His tone was exceedingly pleasant, honey all but dripping from it as he spoke.

'No thanks,' she responded through gritted teeth (both out of irritation and the cold). 'I'm fine.'

'But Kagome,' he said sweetly, concern colouring the edges of his speech in an artificial way, 'you'll _freeze_ to death out here wearing that!'

'I said I'm fine.' She had meant to say resolutely and inexorably, however since her teeth had begun to chatter so hard that it took three or four times to get the words actually out of her mouth, the effect of them was somewhat lost.

'Really?' He snapped back to his usual lazily sarcastic intonation in a second, clearly bored with feigning agreeableness. 'You're wearing practically nothing and you're gonna say no to putting on some furs?' As if to emphasise his point, the howling wind increased in ferocity, whipping Kagome's hair back bitingly as her bare shoulders and legs grew yet more numb from its frigid onslaught.

She used the edge of the pretty spring dress that she had adorned earlier that morning to wipe the tears that she vehemently swore were caused by the wind and couldn't help but take offence at Kouga's comment. She would have him know that her dress only finished an inch above her knee – a more than modest length as far as she was concerned – and certainly could not constitute being 'practically nothing'. You couldn't even see any cleavage, for God's sake; though she probably wouldn't mention that to Kouga.

'I will have you know,' she began her tirade, 'that this dress only finishes an _inch_ above my knee, which is _more_ than modest and is certainly not 'practically nothing'. I mean sure, maybe most human women around don't wear dresses _quite_ this short, but that doesn't make me into some kind of harlot or whatever it is that you're thinking!'

'Ok, one,' Kouga began responding, sounding amused, 'I didn't say you were a harlot. Or imply it. Or say or _do_ anything at all that would suggest that, actually. Two, I take it then that since your dress is _so_ modest and amazing that you're all toasty and warm inside it and not cold at all?'

She wanted to assure Kouga that in fact, yes, she was perfectly toasty and warm in her current attire, thank you, however she wasn't sure how much more of the awful, hideous weather that she could take. Her face and extremities in particular had already surpassed the point of mere numbness and had advanced onto the stage of frigid pain, her skin unable to feel anything but a dull aching and burning sensation.

'Well I suppose I wouldn't mind some kind of jacket.' She grumbled, defeated, falling backwards with a painful thump when Kouga released her from his back to retrieve said furs from her bag, and her deadened legs were unable to hold her weight.

He laughed once, quickly and sharply at this, but otherwise ignored her.

'Well I'm not sure what a 'jacket' is, but this should help to keep you warm at least until we can find a cave to rest in.' He said, gesticulating to the long, fur garment in his hand before throwing it at her, evidently expecting her to be able to catch it. Instead – her fingers being so numb from the cold that she could barely move them – she made a panicked claw with her hands in attempt at grasping the furs flying through the air towards her, before letting it ungracefully hit her in the face. It was at this that Kouga could not help but allow himself to burst into full-blown laughter. It was difficult to not feel smug when you're wrapped up to your neck in cozy, warm furs whilst a certain stubborn human flailed about helplessly in the freezing cold trying to don her own fur garment, he found.

'Here, let me.' He urged mirthfully after several more seconds of watching her struggle and laughing. He took the furs from her and draped them over her shoulders, covering her body from the neck down entirely and fastening it together with the various strings attached to the garment. Kagome pouted as he did so.

As funny as it was to see Kagome's hands so hilariously obsolete, he did find himself equally as concerned by this. After all, if there were a part of her that he wished would freeze and fall off it would be her tongue, not her hands. She would likely need those to point out more jewel shards to him.

He took her delicate, milky hands in his, taking a moment to notice just how small they were in his own, and raised them to his lips. He blew one long stream of blissfully warm air into his cupped hands and onto hers, and then began rubbing them fervently.

'We should probably find somewhere to rest for the night.' He stated as he observed the sky growing perceptibly darker as each second went by. The sun had set quite some time ago by this point and he feared that Kagome's more fragile constitution would not allow her to travel much further safely, considering how long she had insisted on doing so without any form of suitable clothing.

'That would be nice.' She sighed wistfully, visions of a warm log fire captivating her thoughts.

She opted to walk the remaining distance as they searched for a cave, seeing as her legs were worryingly numb and she supposed that actually using them would help at least some blood to begin to circulate around her appendages again. After all, she found herself thinking, if her legs were to fall off from frostbite her dresses would look much less cute on her.

It was roughly twenty minutes later that they had found a suitable shelter. A cave, partially hidden by the bare and desolate branches of the trees around it, which was surprisingly lengthy upon entering. It was dark and almost impossible for Kagome to make out anything other than Kouga's vivid blue eyes. Being a demon, Kouga's night vision was much more impressive and he at least could make out the diminutive girl's features.

'This will be perfect.' Kouga stated, proud of his find. 'This way nobody will be able to see us light a fire and we'll be less likely to be attacked.'

Kagome's eyes widened in alarm. 'Attacked? We might be attacked?'

'Well yeah. The predators around here have gotta eat, you know.' Kouga said, rolling his eyes. Humans. So scared all the time.

He noticed her chewing her lip nervously at this, and felt a strange urge to brush his thumb over it, to see if it really did feel as soft as it looked.

'I'll just get some wood for a fire.'

'From where?!' She stood up – slower than usual due to her still-thawing legs – anxiously as if to follow him. Perhaps he should have refrained from mentioning predators after all.

He shook his head. 'You stay here. There are some trees right outside the entrance. I'll only be gone for a few minutes.'

She sat back down reluctantly, but obediently. If only she was like that all the time he found himself wishing.

Wood gathered, he took a second to take in his surroundings. For the most part, they were bare. Devoid of any of the green of nature, or of any nature at all, the floor was a sombre grey colour and its earth was cracked. There was no sign of life – though Kouga knew from experience that this was a dangerous assumption to make – and the further north they went, the more eerily still the land would become. There was no snow, though there seemed like there ought to be. He regarded his surroundings with nothing but disdain; Kouga was not at all a fan of the north.

He hastened to return to the girl before she did something idiotic and hurt herself yet again. She was prone to doing that, he had found, in the time that they had spent together so far. Knowing her she would probably panic, thinking that Kouga was taking too long to gather firewood and slip whilst trying to run to find him, hitting her head a bit too hard for a human. It was a melancholy thought, sure, but Kouga had no doubt that when the silly little human died, the reason why would be painfully stupid.

'I'm back,' he called for safe measure, to avoid scaring her further. Fortunately for Kouga, however, she was sitting stock-still in the place where he had left her, her teeth still chewing on her bottom lip agitatedly and her eyes glued to his form.

He laid the branches down on the floor and tugged her lip from between her teeth by placing his thumb on her chin and gently pulling it downwards. By the surprised gasping sound that she made, she had clearly not realised that Kouga was able to see her so well in the darkness.

'You'll hurt yourself.' He scolded with an inward curve of his eyebrows. She did not respond, but flicked her eyes about the cave jumpily. He considered trying to placate her by uttering some kind words of comfort, however Kouga realised that he had no such words in his arsenal as he had never had the reason or the inclination to comfort a frightened woman before. He instead busied himself with arranging the thin branches into a barely adequate firewood position, reasoning that if he could get some light in the place, this was likely to alleviate some of her concern.

'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here after all…' She said in hushed tones, almost imperceptible over the roar of the wind as it hit the sides of the cave. Before he could respond, the fire was lit and a soft amber glow illuminated the lines of her face gently. He settled himself by her side as she instinctively moved closer to the source of warmth in front of her.

'What exactly is bothering you?' He asked, trying not to sound judgemental or accusatory.

'It's just…creepy around here. And cold, obviously. I just didn't think I'd get such a sense of…foreboding from being here.'

Kouga nodded. 'It _is_ creepy,' he agreed. 'And you have a reason to at least be a little tentative. It's not like the north is exactly danger-free. There are just as many wolves and bears and demons around here as there are in the east, and with it being so damn cold food is even more scarce than usual: meaning that they're usually more desperate to eat. Plus,' he hesitated before finishing his sentence, 'since conditions are so harsh around here, the demons and animals tend to be even more ferocious than usual, because they need to be in order to survive.'

Kagome shivered, and Kouga doubted whether that it was from the cold.

'Not that you have anything to be afraid of,' he hastened to add, 'you have me, and I'm not gonna let anything happen to you.'

'You won't?' She questioned, a sparkle of appreciation in her eyes.

Kouga shrugged. 'Of course not. Then how will I find jewel shards?' She huffed in response, as she often did.

'I just don't understand how it got so cold _so quickly._ ' She stated, bitterly amazed. 'I mean, I know you can run fast but it hasn't even been half a day and already it's like we're in an entirely different country!'

Kouga shrugged again. 'That's what it's like in the north.'

This did not seem to curtail any of Kagome's concern however, and so he spoke again with a small smile of reminiscence.

'There's an old tale that the elder wolves used to tell us when we were children about the north,' he said, piquing Kagome's interest with a rare admission of his past. 'Do you want to hear it?'

Kagome nodded her head eagerly.

'Once upon a time,' he said, clearing his throat for dramatic effect, 'there was a young wolf cub who decided to go exploring outside of the caves on his own, despite his parents warnings not to.' He shot a reproachful glance at Kagome, as if she herself was the mischievous little cub of which he spoke. 'He travelled and travelled and travelled so far away from the caves that he became lost. After many hours of walking, trying to find his way back to his parents, he came across an old, wooden house. He ran to the house, wondering if it was perhaps the home of a human or two that he could snack on-' he shot an apologetic glance at Kagome, who was less than amused, '-as he was very hungry. He knocked on the door three times: _knock, knock, knock_ , until a very large, very _ugly_ human woman answered. 'What do you want?' she croaked at the scared little wolf, who replied, 'I can't find my way home.' The ugly human let the cub inside, and told him that she would help him find his way back to the caves. She told him to sit very still, and not to touch anything. But of course, the young wolf didn't listen, and as soon as she was out of sight he began to look through _everything_ in her home that he could find.'

'In a small little cupboard, in a small little corner, the boy found a jewel. However, this was not just any jewel: it was the most beautiful jewel that he had ever seen. The young cub decided that he would take the jewel, as he wanted to give it to his mother so that she would be less angry at him when he finally got home, and so he hid it in the lining of his furs. When the old human came back however, she looked at him down her long, crooked nose and said; 'I will take you home, but first you must answer a question. If you answer it truthfully, I will let you leave, but if you answer it dishonestly, then you will never leave again.' The little wolf agreed to this immediately, confident that he could answer any question she asked him.'

"Have you taken anything from my house?' Was her question, and without any fear or hesitation the cub said, 'Of course not!' The human asked again, 'Have you taken anything from my house?', and the cub responded in the same way. The human asked a final time, 'Are you sure?', and the silly little cub said that he was. The human cackled an awful laugh, and grabbed the cub by his arm. 'You have lied, and so you will never go home again!' She cried, before throwing him into a big pot of boiling water. 'And because you've lied, I shall put a curse on all of the wolves in the north so that they shall never see the sun again!' For you see, the ugly old human was actually a mean old witch in disguise! With a spell and a wave of her wand, the witch cursed the northern mountains so that the sun was never able to shine and the wind was always cold. The plants died and the animals went hungry, and snow fell on everything that the wolves of the north touched. The little cub was cooked alive in the pot, and the witch ate him for her supper that night, cackling with each bite that she took. The end.'

Kouga had reminisced upon his tale with some degree of nostalgia, however as Kagome's face was shocked and aghast, it was clear that she did not also perceive it to be a sweet remembrance of childhood.

'That was awful!' She eventually exclaimed. 'She actually _ate_ him!'

Kouga shrugged. 'It certainly stopped us from ever wandering outside the confines of the cave.'

Kagome laughed, all traces of fear gone. 'I'm not surprised. I think if I had heard that tale when I was younger, I would have had nightmares for months!'

Kouga grinned wolfishly, trying to imagine what a child-Kagome would look like.

'It kind of reminds me of _Hansel and Gretel_ , actually.'

'Who and _who_?' Kouga responded, the words sounding foreign on his tongue.

'Never mind,' she chuckled before the cave went silent. 'So…is that one of the stories that your parents told you?' She asked, knowing full well that she was prying a little, but not be able to resist. Kouga immediately stiffened.

'No. Like I said, it was the elders that told us it.' He said in clipped tones.

'Did your parents ever tell you any stories?'

Kouga turned to look at her, an anger present in his eyes that was different from any emotion that she had ever seen in them before.

'Kagome.' Her name was staccato on his lips. 'I have no intention of talking about my parents with you again. Drop it.' And she did, because with the intensity in his eyes and the hurt in his voice, Kagome was genuinely scared as to what he would do if she didn't.

Trying to change the subject as quickly as she had brought it up, she began offering the various snacks that she had hidden in her seemingly bottomless backpack. It had been left far too late to hunt successfully, and Kagome was not at all keen for him to leave her and so she hoped that her makeshift meal would be filling enough for the both of them until morning. He accepted the food in silence, and it was in silence that he ate it.

'Should we be going to sleep soon?' Kagome asked tentatively, in the smallest voice that she could.

'You can sleep,' he began, voice gruff but lacking of the heat it possessed earlier, 'I'll keep watch.'

'What, all night?' She questioned, surprised that it had not occurred to her that someone would need to guard the cave to make sure that no one tried to make _them_ into a meal.

'Of course, who else would do it?' He snapped irritably.

'Well, we can take turns?'

'Oh sure, I really want to leave my safety and wellbeing in the hands of an incompetent human.' He scoffed rather unkindly, to Kagome's chagrin.

'Well obviously if there was an intruder I wouldn't go all Lara Croft on them and start strangling people with my bow,' she retorted snippily, 'but I at least think you should get some rest. You said it takes about two weeks to get to the north, right? You can't stay awake every single night for that long.'

'I'm a demon, I'm much more durable than you.' He said, though he didn't look at all pleased by the idea.

'If anything happens, I'll wake you, ok?'

'Fine,' he acquiesced reluctantly. 'But you sleep first. You look like you're gonna pass out at any minute.'

Kagome chuckled self-consciously. 'I guess I am pretty tired.'

'Then sleep.'

She did as she was told, arranging the furs around her into a comfortable position, ensuring to stay next to the orange glow of the fire.

* * *

When Kouga woke her up, the fire had dissipated entirely. Broken light was streaming in through the entrance of the cave, illuminating her surroundings haphazardly through the branches of the trees. It was early, she could tell, by the way the light took on a purple haze.

'Is it my turn?' She asked with a yawn.

'Yeah. I'll sleep for a few hours – I only need a few-' he said in response to her disapproving glare. 'And then we'll be on our way. You sure you'll be all right to keep guard for a few hours?'

She nodded, and so Kouga did the same. Without many more words, he settled down upon the rocky floor and was soon asleep himself.

Kagome passed the time by reading, pulling a scarcely read book from her bag, and sitting so that one of the rays of light shone demurely over the pages. After some time, however, delicate circular shadows began to fall slowly through the light, obscuring the words of her book.

She looked up, towards the entrance of the cave. She was hesitant, as she knew that Kouga would not approve of her venturing to the outside alone, but even so she still rose to her feet and made her way to the cave's opening. Pushing the branches hiding the cave from view aside, she took in a large gulp of crisp, northern air.

The sky was painted with the most brilliant shade of indigo that she had ever seen; every object under its expanse bathed in its gentle glow. The snow that had began to fall fizzed and foamed on her fingertips as she reached out to touch it as it twirled gracefully through the air. She looked back at Kouga, and then she began to walk back to him. He was peaceful as he slept; his face was delicate and unassuming, a far cry from the beast that she had seen him become. The snow continued to glide from the skies serenely, their shadows dancing across Kouga's face. She contemplated waking him. Outside was a scene more beautiful than any she could remember seeing, but Kouga seemed to care very little for such things as pretty skies and snow judging by their previous encounters, and she worried that her interruption of his sleep would not at all be welcome.

In the end, and against her better judgement, she laid soft palm against the skin of his face and whispered his name. His eyes opened immediately, and he turned them on her as they shone purple and vibrant in the light, concern filling them.

'Is something wrong?' He asked uncertainly; there was no urgency to his awakening.

She shook her head, calmly, lightly, before taking his hand and guiding him to his feet. If Kouga would not witness the beauty in the world unprompted, she had decided, then she would lead him to it herself.

They stood at the entrance of the cave, the wind seeming more temperate somehow as it kissed their skin. Confusion marred Kouga's face for a second, before realising that she had awoken him to show him the view outside. He almost protested and reprimanded the human for waking him for such a pointless observation, but was stopped by the tranquillity of it all. He could not bear to break such an exquisite silence.

And as he lowered his gaze from the sky, finding it focussing instead on the small woman next to him, he noticed how its ethereal glow coloured her skin in its soothing lilac tone, and how each snowflake that touched the dainty skin of her palm made her gentle smile grow larger, and he decided that for once, the human was right. It really was beautiful.

* * *

 **THE END. For now. Just to clarify actually, this is not the ending of the fic.**

 **Things have happened guys. Small things, but things nonetheless. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to seeing you for the next one :) until next time guys~**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! This chapter is a bit shorter than usual at 6000 words...it just didn't feel right to make it any longer tbh.**

 **As for my sex scene question last chapter, just to clarify: I wasn't talking about there being a sex scene anytime soon! Just wondered if people would potentially want one in the future :p**

 **Also, I mentioned this to a reviewer of the last chapter but I thought it was a good idea to mention it again: I always reply to reviews after the next chapter has been posted. I do this because I'm so unorganised that if I replied to reviews when I got them, I'd forget which ones I have and haven't replied to and everyone would get about 30 replies from me :p BUT if anyone ever wants to chat or anything then PM or whatever you want and I'll be happy to reply back as soon as I can :p**

 **Finally, I'm not sure how many people actually check it, but I post updates on my profile as to the status of each chapter. If you're ever wondering how the next chapter is going, check my profile coz chances are I've posted about it!**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 11**

The weather was perfect. It was a temperate blend of warm sun and cool breeze that left even Kouga lethargic. It was ironic then, that on the one day that he had decided to take a break from searching (much to Hakkaku and Ginta's delight), Kagome had found him.

He always knew when she was near.

Her smell was so exotic; sweet like fruit, but not at all appetising. It was complicated and multi-faceted and he found it hard for him to distinguish an overall smell from her scent's many separate nuances. Her clothes were scented with what he could only describe as 'fresh', and her skin smelt of a pungent flower. Her hair was perhaps the most interesting fragrance, however. It was a sickly-sweet mixture of perfumed herbs mixed with chemicals that he could not identify and that he was not familiar with. Her smell was always strong, even overpowering at times, but never unpleasant. And so it was inevitable that, with the sun's rays beaming cheerily across his face, he smelt her, and then he sensed her, and then he looked for her.

She emerged, hair flaring around her like a halo in the cool breeze, the greenery around her parting as if of its own accord to make way for her arrival.

'Kouga!' She exclaimed happily. Her voice was lilted and soothing. Happy as he was, her appearance into his world was always followed by a narrowing of his eyes. After all, where there was Kagome, the mutt usually followed.

'He's not here,' she answered as if reading his mind, 'I came to fetch some water.' She held up her strange empty plastic containers, which she had once informed him were called 'water bottles'.

'Where is he?' Kouga replied dubiously, not entirely ready to relax.

'Not too far. But not here either.' She smiled in a good-natured way. She had always laughed at the constant bickering between the wolf and dog, annoying as it could be sometimes.

She busied herself, kneeling by the river and allowing the pristine water to splash cheerily into the containers of its own accord.

'Where's Hakkaku and Ginta?' She looked around suddenly, clearly disappointed by their lack of presence. Kouga grinned in a wickedly delighted way, which sparked a smile on Kagome's face, too.

'I told them to go for a run. They're too lazy to be able to afford to take a day off.'

Kagome laughed outright at this, brushing a strand of hair from her face and then making her way towards Kouga, propped up on his elbows, to punch him on the arm lightly.

'That's terrible! They're going to keel over and die one day, you know, if you keep pushing them like this.'

'Maybe,' he said, leaning closer to her now-kneeling form and taking her hand in his in a semi-serious manner. 'But I'm more hurt that you're asking to see them, yet don't seem happy to see _me_ in the slightest.'

She shrugged her hands out of his gently in the way that she always did and gave an apologetic smile. 'What can I say? _They_ didn't kidnap me and force me to fight the Birds of Paradise.'

'No, they only asked if they could eat you instead.' Kouga quipped.

'Oh yeah. Hakkaku wanted my liver and Ginta wanted my legs. Or was it the other way round?' They both chuckled, bonded over a morbid memory that had long since been forgiven. 'Of course I'm happy to see you. I worry about you. You push yourself too hard, you know.'

Kouga was grateful for her concern. It was one of the things that he found most endearing about her: her ability to show compassion even to those who had wronged her.

'Maybe if I were the mutt there'd be reason for concern, but fortunately for me, I'm not a weakling. I can run all day, you don't need to worry about me, Kagome.' She rolled her eyes at his words, having heard them many times before.

It seemed that their conversation had come to a natural end, but still she remained, enjoying the sun on her face with him for a few peaceful moments. She was dressed in her usual peculiar garb, though this time at least, her skirt covered her legs entirely. He really did worry that she would be perceived untowardly by others - particularly males - who might assume that she had a more lascivious character than she did. She did not seem to share his concern however, as she watched her stark-white skirt swish prettily in the gentle zephyr. He enjoyed Kagome's company very much, though this had not always been the case. There was a time when he viewed her as nothing more than a rodent to be contained and taught to behave. She would find him the jewel shards, and nothing more. He was soon educated to the abnormalities of her personality, however, quickly finding that she was nothing like any human that he had ever had met.

And he had known that Inuyasha was coming.

Her little fox companion had escaped and would no doubt be bringing her troublesome posse with him, and so he had changed tactics. He needed the woman to find him jewel shards; it was an opportunity for his pack that was too good to pass up. And so he had made a bold declaration of love, one that he had noticed with satisfaction hadn't gone unheard by either Kagome or Inuyasha.

It wasn't true, of course. In fact it was more the truth now than it had been then, as Kouga had never been interested in humans, but Inuyasha had forced his hand and she had a gift that he had very much wanted. It was not accurate to suggest that Kouga was in love with her even now. Though he said it often, it was more a sense of admiration that he felt for the girl. She was strong, and brave, and more than entertaining with the unusual vernacular that she used, but it would be amiss to call his feelings for her 'love'.

Affection. Perhaps this was a more appropriate label. He had been reluctant at first to admit that he held any real feelings for the human beyond pretence, but as time had passed, he found that he had no choice but to reluctantly acquiesce; he was fond of her.

Even though it wasn't love that he felt, Kagome had still changed him; Kouga was by no means the man that he had been when he had first met her, foregoing the ill-treatment of humans and even making the consumption of them punishable by death for his entire tribe. It seemed wrong somehow, knowing that there could be other humans as remarkable as Kagome to continue to allow his pack to take their lives.

It should've worried him that he had been changed by what was supposed to be nothing more than dinner to him, but for some reason Kouga was unequivocally all right with it.

* * *

Coldness. Dark. He shot awake before even the sun had had a chance to rise, drenched in an uncomfortable sweat that made him shiver in the wind that permeated the cave. He looked at the girl beside him, the source of his frighteningly lucid dream, mouth open and heart pumping.

 _What was that?_ He asked himself almost frantically. How had it felt so real? For a moment in his dream he had felt like he _knew_ Kagome, as if they were old friends even. His dream-self had even looked upon her with a fondness and warmth in a way that his awake-self had never looked upon another.

It had to be his mind playing tricks with him. He could see no other reasonable explanation. The tender moment that they had shared together, when time stood still as the snow softly fell to ground, had rattled him he shakily concluded. He had allowed himself to drop his guard around her momentarily, and the dream was his mind's way of urging him to be cautious, to not get too close. She was a human after, all.

But who did the name that brought such a tightening to his chest belong to? _Inuyasha_.

A flash of red.

Ah, the mutt he had met at the human village. He had had no interest in the annoying hanyou and so he remembered very little about him, but a spark recognition ignited in his mind. Why would he have a dream that involved a being so insignificant as him?

He shook his head as if the movement would shake away all memories of the dream itself. It unnerved him just how _real_ it felt, and the remnants of the emotions that he had felt in it still clung to his soul, making him feel as if he really did know Kagome. Like she was actually his friend.

He shuffled away from her, determined not to even feel the warmth of her body on his. He would go back to sleep and wait for sunrise. He would dream about hunting and killing, and when he awoke, he would undoubtedly have forgotten all about the meaningless dream.

Or that's what he told himself, at least.

* * *

'So who's Lara Croft?'

Another day had passed since the first night that they had slept in the north, and Kouga's dream – or by the sheer lucidness of it, his vision – was still playing on his mind.

' _What?_ ' Kagome jumped, startled by the question.

'That name that you mentioned the other night. You said you 'weren't gonna go all Lara Croft' on someone if they attacked us.' He replied, trekking through the knee-deep snow with relative ease, posing a stark contrast to the difficulty that Kagome was having. She was waddling like an overfed turkey dangerously close to Christmas. In her defence, she had told Kouga when he made a similar analogy, the snow went up passed her mid-thigh rather than just up to her knee like it did with him. It hadn't stopped him laughing, however.

' _Oh,'_ she laughed in surprise. 'That. She's…well she's just a girl…from my village. She kicks ass.' Kagome explained with a quick nod of the head. Kouga merely raised an eyebrow, undoubtedly wondering how on earth he had had the misfortune to be saddled with such a strange woman.

The snow that they had watched together the previous night stopped relatively soon after it had started, but it came down in such a furious flurry that within half an hour it had already covered everything in sight and had risen to the level that it was currently at. The puffy snow was beautiful of course, as it often was with its virginal whiteness and delicate shimmering, however Kagome couldn't help but feel melancholy that the picturesque view she had admired with Kouga had been decimated by the sudden snowstorm. The mood between them had been so pleasant for once, it was almost painful for it to be ripped away from them as it was. She clung to it in sheer defiance for as long as possible, braving the snow and sleet like a martyr would torture for the sake of hanging on to the moment for just that bit longer, however it was clear that the ambiance unsalvageable when Kouga rather disgustedly pointed out: 'Your nose is running, and it's dripping onto the furs.'

After that, there really was no return.

Since then they had marched onwards, and a day and a night, had passed since. Kagome really had been a fool to refuse to allow Kouga to pack any clothing for her other than the long furs she had wrapped around her, as she looked and felt quite ridiculous in her flow-y white skirt (one of her favourites, she wore it often) and strappy cami top. She hadn't even packed jeans, for God's sake.

Kouga was also worried about her attire. He couldn't help but think that he should have tried harder to get Kagome into something more suitable, as now they had set off and it seemed that she didn't have a single appropriate item of clothing in her possession, he wondered how he was going to convince the northern pack that she was a simple slave. He could just imagine it now:

'Hey guys, I'm here to escort you back to the east. I brought my human slave with me, by the way. What? No, no, I dressed her as a prostitute _deliberately_.'

Yeah. That wouldn't go down well. And as much as Kagome seemed to think that she was cornerstone of virtue, Kouga was certain that none of the wolves would see it that way. Kouga had come to grow curious about her secret village on the other side of the magical well, as he could not envision a human settlement that would allow a woman to walk around in such revealing and _strange_ attire without punishment. He himself had mistaken her to be some sort of prostitute when he had first met her, though it was abundantly clear from having spent time with her that she was not.

Still, the demons of the north wouldn't know that, and if he introduced her as a human-slave-prostitute, the less picky of them would likely want him to share. After all, he was opening up his home to them, and, in keeping with tradition, that included his women too. The lunar festival really was a time of sharing.

The thought of handing Kagome off to a bunch of wolves, rabid in their anticipation and with a lot less inclination to be delicate with nothing more than a, 'Don't hurt her too badly, guys!', irked Kouga in a way that irked him for even being irked in the first place. He wasn't supposed to care, damn it.

He sighed, suddenly feeling very moody. His strange attachment to the girl really had become troublesome, and he found himself longing for the days when humans meant less to him than the dirt beneath his feet. He was quickly finding that caring involved far too much effort for his tastes.

'Kouga?' Kagome's sweet voice broke him out of his reverie.

'What?' He snapped abruptly, making her the focal point for his annoyance. After all, it was her that was causing him all this hassle in the first place.

She seemed to have grown braver around him. Whereas before an outburst like that from Kouga would have left her at least anxious, now his bad mood merely served to anger her, as well.

'What's your problem?' She asked sharply. 'I was only going to ask you if you wanted anything to drink.' Her eyes were hard with annoyance and she had an unladylike scowl on her face.

'If I wanted something to drink, I'd just pick up some snow.' He replied grumpily, her annoyance only worsening his mood.

'Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were civilised.' She snipped, taking a haughty swig from the curious transparent container in her hand.

'You know, there was a time when you were afraid of me.' He reminded her, hoping to spur some kind of reminiscent fear.

'So kill me, then.' She challenged sulkily, not at all happy with being snapped at.

'What changed?' He asked sighing, his discontent turning into solemn resignation.

Kagome looked at him sideways, not quite ready to grace him with complete eye contact.

'I dunno. You just don't seem like you want to kill me that much anymore.'

Kouga exhaled again and watched as his breath exited his mouth in smoky plumes.

'I guess I don't.' Most of the time.

It was at this moment that Kagome took the opportunity to trip, her foot catching on something hidden beneath the snow. As she flopped face-first into the deep mounds of white, Kouga couldn't help but find it comical the way her entire body disappeared from sight.

He offered a well-meaning hand, but his laughter seemed to offend Kagome and she made a show of hauling herself to her feet and angrily brushing the snow from her hair. It was a performance that was marred, however, when she also began to laugh with him. Kouga began to help, plucking the icy shards from her tresses before too many melted and made her hair damp.

'You seem like you're in a good mood lately.' She commented. 'You're laughing a lot.' She expanded when he raised a questioning eyebrow.

'Am I?' He asked vaguely, not aware of any particular change in his mood.

'It's nice.'

She enjoyed the sound of his laughter. She found that it settled her when she anxious, and she supposed that this was because it almost felt as though if Kouga was laughing, there was nothing to worry about. He didn't laugh often, and when he did it was usually only because he was in a state of genuine happiness. And if Kouga was so relaxed so as to actually do something such as laugh, Kagome thought, what could there possibly be to be afraid of?

And it was a nice laugh. It had volume but was not obnoxious in sound, and it was richly warm as it broke free from his throat.

Kouga couldn't help but wish that what she was saying was false. The sense of familiarity for the girl plagued him, and the more she looked up at him with such exuberant eyes, no doubt relieved to finally be able to relax in his presence, the more it made him want to run like a startled rabbit scampering from its prey. Because all of a sudden, that's what Kouga felt like: prey. Kagome was the predator, small but dangerous and more than able to change him like she had in his dream, and he was the helpless little victim who could do nothing but shake and submit.

He felt the urge to shout and yell and threaten; to remind her of what she used to be so afraid of, but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to chastise her, she was too charmingly happy - annoyance at him now forgotten - for him to be able to even consider ruining that. Even as his mind raced with thoughts, she skipped alongside him calmly (rather ungracefully due to the high snow) and hummed a tune of which he was not familiar. She was the epitome of relaxed.

The troubled glance that he shot her must have been telling, as she suddenly stopped and addressed him.

'What's wrong?'

'Nothing.' He responded, beginning to walk again and praying that she would follow. Of course, however, she did not. Her arms were planted sternly on her hips.

'It's just…' he genuinely had no idea where to begin. 'Do you ever feel like…like you know me?'

'Well obviously. I've known you for like three months now.' She responded, speaking as if she suspected that he was an idiot.

Kouga shot her another, unimpressed, glance. 'Not like that. I mean, do you ever feel like you know me better than you should?' She looked confused, and so he continued speaking to try and clarify his meaning. 'What I'm trying to say is: do you ever feel like you know me intimately, in a way that you shouldn't, and you can't explain why?'

He had almost expected her to laugh at him, to tell him that she didn't have any idea what he was talking about, but instead she looked sincerely pensive.

'Sometimes…' she began slowly, still gathering her thoughts. 'Sometimes I do. Like when you look at me a certain way or say a certain thing, I think 'I swear you've said that before'. Plus you seem…familiar to me, in some way. I'm not sure why, though, since I really don't know that much about you.' She shot him an accusatory glance at this, as if to say 'you never tell me _anything_ '.

Kouga nodded his head. She felt similarly to him, though, he noted with some embarrassment, he bet she had never dreamt about him. They had begun to continue their trek again now, the ice and snow crunching beneath their feet.

'Do you need a hand?' He asked, noticing that her speed had abated.

'I thought you'd never ask.' She replied with a relieved grin, holding out her arms like a child who wanted picking up. He turned, and she climbed onto his back, and remained that way until they stopped to rest for the night.

* * *

It was several days before it happened. They had been camped out in another cave, holed up for the night to escape the blistering winds, when he started talking.

Kagome wasn't sure what it was that spurred his speech, and in all honesty neither was Kouga, but it felt necessary. And it felt right.

'My parents were the alphas of the southern tribe.'

Kagome sat up, suddenly stock-still. In an instant her curiosity had been piqued to immeasurable heights and she held her breath, unmoving entirely for fear that even one small movement would frighten him out of his reverie and he would cease his speech.

'When I was born, there was a lot that was expected of me. I'm not sure why either of my parents even had a child, considering that neither of them seemed to have any desire to look after one. I think maybe they just wanted an heir, but never really wanted the burden of actually having a child. My father placed a lot of pressure on me,' he stopped for a second to take a short, curt breath, almost as if he was trying to exhale the pain as well. 'And from the moment I was born I was expected to be perfect. I was given 'training' relentlessly from when I was old enough to walk until the day that I left, which mostly consisted of being given impossible tasks and then being beaten when I couldn't complete them. My mother…was in agreement that this was the best way to raise me.'

Kagome let out a slow, shuddering breath, having not realised that she had been holding it and suddenly beginning to feel faint. Still, she did not speak. Kouga hadn't looked at her since he had begun his tale and he was not looking at her now; nor would she encourage him to. In fact, she bowed her head deliberately so that her hair would fall in such a way that would cover her eyes. Just a single meet of the eyes, she had convinced herself, would be enough to make him stop talking.

'I didn't have much interaction with either of them, except for 'training'. Still to this day I know hardly anything about them, and the things that I do know are inconsequential. The story of my childhood is long and boring in the sense that I spent most of it lonely and alone. That all ended when I left the south, however. The day before my father had broken my arm over something that I didn't do correctly, I don't remember what – it was a pretty common occurrence–' he clarified quickly when he noticed Kagome shift in alarmed question from the corner of his eye, '-and I remember he came to bandage it himself, which was strange since neither he nor my mother had ever tended to any of my wounds prior to that day. He told me that he had a job for me, and that if I could complete it, I would finally be a worthy son.'

'It turns out my father had a rival that was planning to overthrow him as leader. He told me that he believed in my strength and my ability to kill him, but the bastard clearly didn't think I was smart enough to stick around for the conversation that he had with my mother after he'd dismissed me. I listened from just outside the room, out of sight from the two of them, and I heard him tell her that he intended to use me as fodder for his enemy, expecting that I wouldn't be able to kill him and that I'd die in the process of trying, but that I'd be able to wound him enough that my father would be able to finish him off easily.'

'And so you refused to kill him and left the southern tribe?' Kagome couldn't resist but speak, admiration swelling from inside her chest at the brave young Kouga's actions.

'No. I found my father's rival and I ripped his head off with my bare hands.' He replied wickedly, eyes flashing with malevolent hatred. 'And then when I presented my father with the pathetic bastard's head, I fought my father too and sliced open his neck with the same sword that he had given me to kill his enemy. He didn't even think that I was strong enough to kill his enemy with my claws alone. I had intended to kill my father that night, and thought I had for a long time, but I found out later when I had joined the eastern tribe that he had lived somehow. He lost an eye, and the scar on his neck never healed, apparently.' He let out a short, self-loathing bark of a laugh. 'I bet he's just as ashamed of me now as he was back then. I couldn't even kill him, I couldn't even do that right.'

Kagome placed a delicate hand over her mouth, feeling slightly queasy. She had assumed that this story would have played out in an entirely different way, that Kouga would've left out of some sense of principle, but instead he had chosen to kill, even when he could've simply walked away. It was not that she thought his father didn't deserve it – in fact just the thought of him _and_ his mother made her blood boil and her heart ache for him – but she firmly believed that violence was scarcely ever the answer. She didn't know about the other demon: perhaps he deserved it to, or perhaps he didn't, but Kagome knew, just knew that Kouga was better than some ruthless killer. She had seen it, even though it had mostly just been through short glimpses, but nevertheless she had seen the good in him and she was unwilling – and unable – forget that.

'Why…why are you telling me this?' She asked uncertainly, confused as to why he had even divulged some of his past to her in the first place when every question she had asked previously had been met with nothing but contempt and resistance.

'I don't know.' He answered simply, yet honestly. 'I suppose…I suppose it felt right to tell you, for some reason. And I guess I thought that you might know what to say.'

'I might know what to say about what?' Kagome questioned, alarmed at the sudden responsibility conferred onto her.

'I dunno…you just always seem to know what to say when things are…painful.' He admitted his final word with contemptuously, for himself and for the fact that he even felt pain over it at all. He had long since thought his inability to be robotic in nature and in emotion was his greatest weakness – after all, he hated his father, but his stoicism had kept him alive, in charge of an entire tribe, and more importantly kept him unburdened of any feelings of guilt or sorrow that would otherwise have left him vulnerable.

' _That's a lot of pressure.'_ Was Kagome's first thought. How could she possibly know what to say to fix a lifetime of neglect? She wasn't a therapist, after all. She mulled his words over in a state of panic-shock, before doing the only thing she could think of in this situation: placing a gentle hand on his stiff shoulder. She left it there for a moment, allowing him to acclimate to the sensation of another touching him, and then she gently, slowly, lifted her hand to his face to brush some loose hair from his eyes, and then let it rest upon his cheek.

'I don't know what I could possibly say to make any of the things you've been through less painful,' she admitted, using her hand to coax his heard to turn and face her, 'and you never should have had to suffer through a childhood like that. I'm sorry you did. But what I do know is that it's made you strong. Pain isn't the only thing that makes people strong, obviously, and I wish for your sake that you could've had parents that taught you to be strong, rather than forcing you to be, but it's still what made you into the man you are today. You've accomplished so much, probably more than they ever expected you to, and though I don't agree with a lot of the things you think and do, I really respect where you are now compared to where you came from. You didn't deserve to be treated that way by your parents – nobody does – but it's their loss because they missed out on knowing the man you are now. You should be proud of yourself, Kouga, you're not weak and you never were. I'm…proud of you, too.'

His gaze was unwavering, eyes bright and glossy, listening intently as she spoke in the way that a child would listen when its mother was praising them. For a long while after her last word had left her mouth, Kouga said nothing. Kagome agonised over this silently, wondering if she had said the wrong thing, wondering if perhaps he thought that her speech was as cringe-y as she did. She debated allowing her hand to drop from his face; it had been there for an awkwardly long time, now.

And then he suddenly smiled. It was a bright smile, his pearly white teeth and sharp fangs on full display, but unlike the majority of the times that Kagome had seen him smile, there was no malice in this one. His fangs were not bared in warning or intimidation, they were bared simply to express happiness. It was pleasant, Kagome decided, to witness him smile like that. His face appeared kind when he smiled genuinely, to Kagome's surprise, and she couldn't help but notice each cheerful line of his face was exceedingly handsome. His eyes, currently as bright as they were blue, were fiercely captivating even in the diminished lighting of the cave and she found herself staring, and moreover she found herself not wanting to _stop_ staring.

'Great. A human is proud of me. I might as well just kill myself now.' He responded at last, his words sarcastic but his tone anything but. He laughed cheerily and the hearty sound caused Kagome to laugh delightedly as well. More and more she was finding that she treasured these moments when Kouga let his well-practiced mask of complacence fall from his face and showed true emotion. She even liked it when he showed emotions other than happiness, because at least he was letting himself feel, and was willing to reveal such an intimate piece of himself to her that she doubted he had revealed to many others. It scared her to think this, that the violent wolf's emotions could influence her own so powerfully, but they did. She tried her hardest to push the thought aside. There's no point in dwelling on it, she told herself, that's just how it is, and worrying about it isn't going to change that.

'Well, I tried.' Kagome sighed emphatically, making a show of being bitterly disappointed. She began to remove her hand from his warm skin, but was stopped Kouga's own hand. He shook his head lightly, not quite ready to let go of the feel of her skin on his. Affection, he thought. Was that what it was that he felt for the girl? Ever since his dream it certainly had been a prevalent emotion, liquid and warm in his veins, however, he admitted somewhat reluctantly to himself, it was not the dream that had brought the feeling about. He had felt that way about Kagome for a while now, the dream had merely given the feeling a name.

* * *

As they grew closer to the northern caves, so did Kouga's anxiety grow. How exactly was he going to explain away Kagome's attire, and her presence, without making her a source of interest for the northern wolves? It was not customary for a leader to bring a human slave with them when travelling long or physically demanding distances, as humans were often more of a hindrance than anything else. This was certainly true in Kagome's case, who seemed to live in a perpetual state of coldness and constantly had to be carried on Kouga's back. If a leader so desired someone to do the duties of a human slave on such journeys, they would often bring a low-ranking wolf in a human slave's stead as they could at least survive harsh climates and enemies to a better extent than a human could.

With this in mind, he had taken to stalling tactics. They had walked aimlessly for hours under the guise of jewel shard hunting, much to Kagome's great displeasure. Her feet hurt, apparently. For all his warnings of dangerous and evolved creatures that have grown harsh to deal with their equally as harsh climate, so far they had encountered none. The presence of life in the north was as barren as its terrain, it seemed. In the end, Kouga had no choice but to offer reluctant capitulation. They would have to head to the northern caves now, and they were woefully close.

'So you never really told me what this festival is about.'

'Huh?' Kouga blinked dumbly, startled slightly by the sudden voice that emanated from behind his shoulders.

'The festival that you're holding. You never told me what it's actually for.' Kagome repeated, hoisting herself higher up on his body so that she could crane her neck around to get a better view of the side of Kouga's face.

'Oh.' He replied unenthusiastically. 'It's mostly an excuse for the men to get drunk and have sex.'

'Charming.' Kagome grumbled, wondering vaguely if Kouga partook in those activities…and whether he planned to again this year.

'Officially though, the festival is this dumb celebration that's traditionally held to celebrate the moon.'

Kagome nodded wisely. 'Right, because wolf demons are werewolves that change into their true wolf forms on a full moon.'

'Yes exactly-wait, what? No!' Kouga laughed a little. 'You've been at the caves for more than a couple of full moons now, have I ever changed into a wolf?'

'Well there was this one time at night when I was sleeping and I woke up and I could've _sworn_ -'

'Shut up.' Kouga interjected jokingly, smiling at her silliness.

'You're right, you're probably just really hairy.'

'Want me to show you?' Kouga asked, suddenly very serious. His words had the intended effect as the blood drained from Kagome's face and she whispered meekly: 'No thanks.'

'Anyway,' he continued rather glumly as he proceeded to speak once more about the festival. 'It's more of a tradition than anything else. A long time ago the wolf demon tribes believed that the moon was a source of good luck for them, and by worshipping it the celestial power of the moon would grant them luck in the following year.'

'Makes sense. So why are you so moody about the whole thing?'

'Psh. I'm not moody; I'm not a woman.' Kagome smacked Kouga on the shoulder with what she presumably thought was considerable force. 'I don't like hosting other tribes. They're annoying and wolves are stubborn anyway. They don't like to follow anyone's rules but their own, even when they're guests.' He paused for a beat. 'Besides, I never participated in the lunar festival when I was younger, and I don't see the point of doing so now, either.'

'I don't know,' Kagome responded softly, suddenly feeling a rush of kindness towards him. 'It sounds like it might be fun.'

'I guess...' Kouga agreed reluctantly. '...I guess I can always entertain myself with the women.' He brightened considerably at this; if the north was good for one thing, it was definitely its women. 'You ok?' He called over his shoulder, noticing Kagome's stiffened presence on his back.

'Yep.' She replied brightly, and then gave an exaggerated shiver to show that she was, in her words, 'fucking freezing'.

'You should've worn the furs I tried to give you.' Kouga chided, not really feeling sorry for her since it was her own damn fault that she had no appropriate clothes to wear for the weather. 'Women and their stubbornness.'

'Shut up, Kouga.'

* * *

The northern caves, Kouga thought with a profound sense of unease as he surveyed their jagged grey rock exterior and superfluous volume, were much bigger than he remembered.

'Well,' he said with a shaky laugh that he immediately kicked himself for, 'we're here.'

'Woah. They northern wolf tribe owns so much land! And I thought the eastern caves were big.'

Kouga felt a small sting on his pride, and he huffed irately. 'The size of the land doesn't mean nothing if you don't rule it right.'

'Is the leadership in the north not very good, then?' Kagome asked quizzically.

'Well…no, it's fine I guess. I'm just saying.' Kouga responded lamely, pride still wounded. 'I guess we should get going.'

He put a tentative foot forward, wishing with all his might that he could just turn tail and run – a concept that he wasn't very used to – as now that they had arrived, he had really begun to fear for Kagome's safety.

Starting slowly, imperceptibly, then quickly building to a powerful staccato crescendo, the ground began to rumble. The snow clinging to the leafless trees began to fall from them in heavy splotches, and when the large, ice white creature descended on him, its massive, translucent claws aimed directly for his face, Kouga never saw it coming.

* * *

 **Cliff-hanger! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was short and sweet, I thought. Looking forward to seeing you all in the next chapter! Until next time guys~**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter is late, I just started my final year in university this week and I am SO SO tired. Obviously I have less time on my hands now, but I hope that that won't affect my updating TOO much. If this chapter has more typos or grammar issues or anything in it than usual, then I apologise, I just haven't had much time to write or edit it and so it's been a little rushed.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter though, anyway :)**

 **Omg, quick A/N! I forgot to ask when I originally posted this chapter: who watched Lucifer?! I saw it advertised on the side of a bus of all places last week and I blitzed through all of season 1 in a weekend. I am officially obsessed. Does anyone else watch Lucifer? Is anyone else obsessed like I am?! I knew Tom Ellis from a British show called Miranda and I thought he was hot, but I dunno, somehow he just seems hotter as the devil XD**

 **Ok, I'm done. I promise.**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 12**

The strong and jarring hand that clamped itself urgently over her mouth was what awoke Kagome. For a fleeting, heart-stopping moment, she lay paralysed with fear, and then she tried to scream.

'Shut up,' Kouga hissed, his voice immediately recognisable to Kagome with its distinct low timbre and slight gruffness. 'Someone's coming.'

He pulled her from the rather simplistic bed – it couldn't hold a candle to Kouga's regal masterpiece of comfort, though not much could – and placed her hurriedly, yet gently, onto the makeshift pile of straw that had been haphazardly arranged for her.

And then light flooded the room.

'Goddammit.' Kouga groaned, masterfully assuming the sleep-thick voice of a man who had just awoken. 'Can't you put some fucking windows in here so that there's at least _some_ light coming through?'

The man, who stood well over six feet tall and who was almost as broad, boomed a laugh that made Kagome wince at the volume. 'Sorry, Kouga.' He apologised heartily. 'I hadn't had time to get a room prepared for you. Since we hadn't heard back from our invitation we assumed that you weren't coming at all.'

'Don't make the same mistake next time.' Kouga warned, flashing his teeth in a terrifying smile, which the large wolf demon somehow interpreted as a joke and laughed once again. It was a joke, apparently, as Kouga began to laugh too, sitting up and leaning over the side of the bed in order to light one of the nearby lamps. The fire illuminated the room lazily, just bright enough to bring himself and his immediate surroundings into clearer view.

'My men have hunted. It's time for breakfast – I ordered them to bring back a particularly large feast for you. A seat has been specially arranged for your arrival.'

Kagome fought the urge to fold her arms and snort haughtily. ' _I am here, you know…_ '

Kouga seemed to share her sentiment. 'And the girl?'

The wolf's face creased as if it had never even crossed his mind to make provisions for her. 'What about the girl?'

'Where will she sit?' Kouga answered patiently, though Kagome could tell by the twitch of his brow that said patience was wearing thin.

'I figured she'd just stay in here. I'll get one of the other slaves to bring her some scraps or something when we're done.' He looked dumbfounded that Kouga would have even had the inclination to ask about her arrangements. Kouga shot a quick glance at Kagome, and she bristled just perceptibly enough for him to catch. Evidently she was none-too-pleased about being ignored and offered 'scraps' for breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day, after all.

'I want her with me.' Kouga spoke evenly, causing the large wolf's eyebrows to shoot so far up, they almost got lost in his hairline. 'One of your men – or your women – could attack her. I don't want to take that risk.'

'You think that my pack would dare to touch a girl that they'd been directly ordered to leave alone?' He was polite, but his voice had an edge to it. His words almost sounded like a warning.

'Even my own pack don't always obey when there're humans around.' Kouga responded coolly, supremely unperturbed and unthreatened by the other demon. 'Especially when it comes to her. She tends to be…grating.' Kagome very nearly snorted with indignation.

'Ah, yes. The infamous eastern tribe and their hatred for humans. You don't have to worry about that here, Kouga. My pack understand the usefulness of keeping human slaves…and of course I let them have their fun with them, too. Trust me, they won't need to touch _your_ little slave to be satisfied.' He smiled then, a smile so large and so sincere that it almost made Kagome nauseous to look at. ' _Of course I let them have their fun…_ '

'But I'll arrange another place for her, if that's what you wish.' He continued suddenly, waving a hand in an uninterested manner. 'But fair warning, Kouga: it's gonna ruffle a lot more feathers having the human feast with us than it will keeping her here in the room.'

'Thanks, Gurou.' Gurou! That was what his name was! 'We'll be out shortly. I just need to…attend to something first.'

Gurou shot a knowing look at Kouga's stomach before smiling. 'Ah, yes. It seems you do.'

As soon as he had closed the door again, and she had waited for as many seconds as she could bear with baited breath, Kagome leapt up to rifle through her backpack. Pulling out her ever-handy first aid kit, she jumped onto the bed in a not-at-all gentle way, making Kouga wince as she surveyed his stomach worriedly.

Without asking for permission, she began to unravel the blood-soaked bandages. His wound wasn't like this when he had woken her up, she was sure of it, and so that meant that it must have opened up again since then. Kagome bit her lip anxiously. Except for picking her up off of the bed, Kouga really hadn't moved around much since Gurou's arrival, and it was a troublesome sign that his wound was bleeding again already.

Revealing the injury from underneath the bandages was a more harrowing experience than she had thought it would be. The four angry gashes were alarmingly deep and pumped viscous red blood steadily from their depths.

'Oh my God!' Kagome squeaked, placing a horrified hand over her mouth.

'It's fine.' Kouga reassured, surprisingly compassionate for him. 'It looks bad now but it will heal like that-' he snapped his fingers in demonstration, '-I promise.'

'Are you sure?' She asked shakily, more than a little concerned that he had severely overestimated his body's healing capabilities.

'I promise.' He repeated with a soft smile.

Kagome had already begun to bandage the wound as he spoke, applying pressure to help stem the blood flow and then wrapping it tightly.

'I don't know why it started bleeding like this anyway,' Kagome commented nervously, wondering if perhaps there was something internal that was amiss, 'it seemed to stop bleeding for the most part last night.' Kouga gave her a look that she couldn't quite place, but otherwise said nothing. 'Do you think it's a good idea for me to come and sit with you?' She asked, going from one concern to another.

'No,' he admitted uncertainly, 'but I'm even less comfortable with the idea of you being in here by yourself at the mercy of anyone who decides to come by and 'have their fun' with you." He repeated Gurou's earlier words to great effect, Kagome shivering under their meaning.

He laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She smiled gratefully in return. 'Well, your wound's all bandaged up. I guess we better get going.' She said with forced cheer.

'I guess so.' He replied, much less enthusiastically.

* * *

The feast was lavish, just as promised. Plate upon plate of meat and even – Kagome noticed with some delight – actual _fruit_ – was laid out on the hefty, mile-long table. Kagome shot Kouga a meaningful glance.

'We don't need a table back home.' He whispered agitatedly, eyes searching around the room for something, but never settling in one place for more than a couple of seconds.

Directly in the centre of the table, were two vacant chairs.

'Kouga!' Gurou boomed, this time causing Kouga to wince as well as Kagome. 'Come, sit!' He lead them cordially to their seats, pulling his chair out for him, and being such a consummate host, even going so far as to pretend that Kagome's presence didn't offend him deeply and pulling out her seat, too. The rest of the wolves veiled their contempt for her less, though their misgivings were refreshingly less vocal and more self-contained than Kouga's pack. Why couldn't she have been kidnapped by the northern wolves, instead? They at least _pretended_ to tolerate her.

'How's the battle wound?' Gurou asked merrily, visibly angering Kouga by divulging his injury to the rest of his pack.

'Fine.' His answer was curt and precise.

'How exactly did you get hurt in the first place?' Hajiro, a short-haired wolf demon with mischievous eyes that Kagome recognised as Gurou's second-in-command.

'Tell the story Kouga!' Gurou demanded, clapping happily with enthusiasm.

'No thanks,' He smiled through gritted teeth. 'I'll leave the honour up to you.'

Gurou was clearly happy with this, as he relished in reliving the tale.

* * *

The blood had been hot as it poured down his face thickly. After the first blow, Kouga remembered only sounds and sensations as the blood obstructed his vision. It had almost been a pleasant warmth, seeing as the air around him was so chill. Then he had heard screaming. It was the kind of scream that either connoted extreme pain or sheer terror, and without sight to fill in the gaps, it was a fifty-fifty guess as to which it could be.

'Kagome!' He had cried out, furiously wiping the liquid from his eyes in an attempt to see, but to no avail. The blood that was still inside his body pumped through his veins icily, his mind bursting with images of Kagome dead, attacked, injured, or worse. He swiped his fist uselessly, trying to hit something, anything, chillingly aware that Kagome had not made another sound since her scream. When his demonic healing abilities finally kicked in, he noted a significant abate in the blood flow from his head, and he opened his eyes a crack, squinting harshly to ensure that the remaining blood did not impede his sight again.

His eyes scanned around him. The pristine whiteness of the snow had been marred by bright crimson, though it was safe to assume that this was his own blood. He searched more, impaired slightly by his inability to open his eyes fully, looking for any sign of Kagome or the creature that attacked him. It was only then that he had felt a familiar chill at the base of his spine that he only felt when an enemy was behind him. In his panic for Kagome he had ignored his usually sharp instincts and he turned, slowly, dreading what he would come to face.

The first thing he noticed were her eyes. They were the same melted brown as usual, but they were opened so wide that Kouga swore that could see more of the whites of them than of her irises. A long, clawed hand was clamped over her mouth tightly, obstructing any speech or sound from exiting the orifice at all. Her own milky white hands gripped desperately – but ultimately in vain – to the creature's thick arm, clutched against its forearm so hard that the skin around her fingers had become so white they almost blended in to its snowy fur.

It had the face of a jackal, or some other type of canine creature, though much more grotesque. Fangs jutted abnormally largely from its black lips, which were stretched over a prominent jaw. Its eyes were shrunken and black, and its bone structure was so immense that its skin had no choice but to stretch over it thinly, ready to rip and break at the most meagre of pressure. Its entire body was covered in the camouflaging fur except for two small, bare patches around its eyes.

Kouga tore his eyes away from Kagome's painfully, and instead fixed them onto her captor's in quiet rage. He did not withdraw his eyes from it, or blink, for several seconds, staring the creature down, his wolf pride ensuring that he not budge even an inch. He would not show fear. Not now. Not when it could result in Kagome being killed. And so he bottled up the rising tide of desperation and terror that he felt for Kagome's safety and pushed it down deep into the depths of his body. Fear made you sloppy, fear made you weak; and in that moment he couldn't afford to be weak.

He growled. His throat and chest reverberated with the sound menacingly, and he let it linger between himself and the beast for several moments.

Unexpectedly, and without hesitation, he launched himself, feet slipping slightly on the mushy snow, and tackled the creature. He did his best in the ensuing turmoil to not jostle Kagome too hard, but when the creature wrapped its humungous claws around his throat and began to squeeze, Kouga was only able to be so careful. His main priority was getting Kagome out of the grasp of the demon; if she sustained some bruises in the process then that would be unfortunate, but it was certainly more desirable than being dead. He knew he had succeeded in his task when he heard a small squeak and a light ' _thwump_ ', and so he redirected his attention, putting all his focus on the demon. Kouga flexed his claws slowly, allowing them to detract and retract much like a cat, before thrusting them into the demon's eye socket. It took a mere second – and a wet ' _pop_ ' – to blind it, and it screeched terribly as blood flowed from the harrowing sight of his vacant eye sockets. It began to thrash wildly, incandescent with rage, though it was easy for Kouga to pin its long arms above its head with one hand, and slash at its face with the other.

He could feel the hot spray of its blood on his body, his face, mixing with his own and as he ripped the demon apart, enjoying the feel as the burning ball of anger in his stomach began to dissipate with each brutal rip of skin. It was only when he heard another scream that he paused for a second, slack-jawed with a sudden wild panic that he had never felt before, that he stopped tearing at the demon. He had assumed that it was dead, but when it used its last remaining strength to plunge its now completely scarlet hands directly into the centre of Kouga's stomach, he realised that he had been sorely mistaken.

'…and then we finished off the demon ourselves and carried Kouga off as he mewled like a little kitty cat, clutching his stomach.' Gurou grinned triumphantly, having recounted his tale with a clear flair for the dramatic. Kouga snorted, but offered no rebuttal to Gurou's claims. He had more pressing issues on his mind, such as how to protect Kagome in a cave full of human-hating wolf demons that he had no command over.

'You've barely eaten! Come now, Kouga, surely your little stomach wound isn't so bad as to make you lose your appetite?' Gurou urged, smiling a row of razor-sharp teeth and even more impressive canines.

With a forced smile, Kouga jammed a hefty handful of food in his mouth, chewing sullenly as he contemplated how to speed up the process of escorting the northern wolves to his cave, tolerating the stupid moon festival, and then getting them the hell back to where they came from. He glanced over at Kagome who was fidgeting nervously, the plate in front of her bare and unladen with any kind of nourishment.

He nudged her. 'Eat.' He said from the side of his mouth, glancing around quickly to ensure that the other demons were too engrossed in their own conversations to notice him giving any personal attention to the human.

'Am I allowed to?' She whispered back, leaning into him and finding the close proximity a comfort of sorts. Kouga merely picked up a handful of meat – pausing for a moment before adding some fruit to her plate too – in response. Kagome stared down disgustedly at her plate – did he really expect her to eat something that he had picked up with his hands and just dumped in front of her?

'Just eat it.' He sighed. She would need the nourishment for later. With a sigh to match his own, she complied with his words and began eating.

When all the food was gone and the bellies of all the wolves in the room were uncomfortably full, a myriad of human slaves arrived and began clearing the dishes. A handful of wolves looked pointedly at Kagome, as if to suggest that she ought to be joining them. Instead, she squirmed anxiously and avoided eye contact.

'Kouga!' Gurou exclaimed loudly. 'Come! I'll give you an official tour of the northern caves.'

'No thanks.' Kouga responded sharply, unable to think of anything he would like to do less than to traipse around the boring caves with Gurou grating on his last nerve.

'Nonsense!' Gurou shouted, not taking the hint – or outright rejection at all, 'you're our guest. The least I can do is to show you my home the way you will soon be showing us yours. After all, the festival will be held here, next year.'

'What about the human?' Kouga demanded, placing a firm and discreet hand on Kagome's knee and squeezing tightly for reassurance.

'Yes, yes, your precious human.' Gurou shot her an irritated glance. 'She can just go and play with the other slaves for now.'

Kouga snorted ungracefully. 'And leave her to get attacked by one your wolves?'

'Yes, just like the _our_ slaves were viciously mauled as soon as they came out?' Gurou questioned angrily, annoyed by Kouga's constant deference to the pathetic human. He narrowed his eyes. 'I'm beginning to wonder why it is that you're so concerned with the human, Kouga. Anyone would think that you have feelings for her.'

Kouga jerked back in fear and surprise. 'No!' He had to quash all suspicions of that immediately, or Kagome really could be in danger. 'She's just…an excellent slave is all. Very obedient-' he squeezed Kagome's leg again, but this time not as reassurance, more like as a warning to play along, '-and very hardworking. She's very good at…satisfying my needs.' He said, with a glimmer of guilt as he spoke the words, hoping they were convincing.

'Well, really, Kouga,' Gurou began with a huff, 'she's just a slave. She can be replaced. I do understand the appeal of a slave with extra talents, however.' He replied with a sickening grin. 'You can leave her with my slaves; no harm will come to her. The northern pack is not the same as your pack, Kouga. We understand the benefits of having slaves around.'

He clicked his finger authoritatively. 'Risa!' He demanded, catching the attention of a small, tawny-haired human girl and causing her to jump violently. 'Take my good friend's slave and set her to work for the day. Ensure that nothing happens to her.' He followed his statement with a menacing narrowing of the eyes.

'Yes, my Lord.' She answered quietly, rushing to Kagome's side and urging her to ride. 'My Lord.' She addressed Kouga in the same way, nodded diminutively at him, before grabbing Kagome's arm hurriedly and rushing her from their presence.

'See?' Gurou chirped happily. 'Problem solved.'

* * *

As they weaved their way through the sinuous cave tunnels, Kouga found his mind drifting to Kagome not for the first time since they had been parted. Was she being treated well? Was she in any trouble at all? He tried to remove the thoughts from his mind with a literal shake of the head, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but worry.

'And that is the where the children play during the day.' Gurou announced, waving a hand at a large room with an assortment of wooden and stone toys within it.

'Great.' Kouga replied flatly. Disdainful as it was, he was flagging. The wound in his stomach had begun to ache tremendously, Gurou having insisted on showing him the full expanse of his admittedly impressive caves for over forty minutes now. He had thus far managed to keep up relatively well with Gurou's fast pacing, but his stamina had begun to run low and he even found himself walking with a slight limp. Gurou stopped finally, noticing what Kouga was too proud to say himself, and laughed heartily.

'I forgot all about your little injury!' Kouga clenched his teeth in anger. 'Come, let's find you somewhere to sit so you can rest. Maybe we can get your pretty little slave to come and tend to you, yes?' He flashed a wicked smile, intuiting correctly that this would garner Kouga's attention.

'Where is she?' He responded, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

'With the other slaves.' Gurou responded simply with an uninterested shrug as he led them into another room and sat casually on the floor, leaning back against the cool rock wall. Kouga took his cue to do the same, and followed suit with a wince. 'So why exactly is it that you're so concerned for this human?'

Kouga gritted his teeth so forcefully that he felt them creak under the pressure of his jaw. 'I already told you.'

'And that's really all there is to it? She's just obedient and good in the sack?' Gurou was clearly not convinced, and raised a sceptical eyebrow at his companion.

'Yup.' Kouga responded simply, wanting to give no further information away than he already had. Gurou was deceptively perceptive – a trait of his that Kouga had forgotten – and he knew that Gurou would be able to tell straight away if he was lying.

'So you would consider selling her then? If something of equal value was offered in return?'

'I might.' Kouga replied uneasily, Gurou's line of questioning making him uncomfortable.

'Interesting.'

They remained next to each other for several minutes in a silence that was far from pleasant. Prior to this occasion, Kouga had ever only briefly had to deal with Gurou – or any members of the other tribes, either. The little interaction that they did have had come through way of the previous lunar festivals. Kouga and Gurou's relationship had never been on particularly good standing: especially when, at the last festival the previous eastern leader had ever held, Kouga had ended up beating Gurou so hard that he broke his jaw. He couldn't remember why; Gurou may have gone after a woman that Kouga was pursuing, he wasn't sure and it didn't matter, either, in all honesty. All Kouga knew is that he was pissed off, and Gurou had a very smash-able face. It was no surprise, then that the quiet among them now was strained. Kouga had been surprised to hear that the north had contacted the east about the festival at all, as Kouga had assumed that the relationship between the two would disintegrate naturally once Kouga became the new leader.

'I assume you've showed me all there is to see now?' Kouga broke the silence with immense hopefulness. He prayed to every celestial being he could name that he wouldn't be forced into enduring anymore time touring the northern caves.

'I have.' Gurou replied with the sweetest words that Kouga had ever heard. 'My caves are incredibly impressive.' He said, more a statement than a question.

'I guess.' Kouga was unwilling to agree with such a compliment. His caves were certainly _big_ …but Kouga found himself more partial to his own caves. They were smaller but more homey, and certainly less pretentious.

Gurou sniffed, clearly unhappy with his lack of agreement. 'I suppose we should retire for today.' He stated in a tone that suggested that he had no further desire to be in Kouga's presence for the time being. 'I wouldn't want you to start missing your little slave too much.' He sneered, eyes dancing with accusatory mischief.

The knot in Kouga's stomach tightened – and it wasn't to do with the injury. Hurt as it had begun to, it was knowing that Gurou was suspicious of his relationship with Kagome (and what that could mean for if his suspicions were confirmed) that made him feel nauseous. He opted to snort unceremoniously, rather than grace him with words, but from the look Gurou's eyes it was clear that Kouga was certainly not fooling him.

* * *

Kagome's morning had been surprisingly pleasant, all things considered. After having been hurried off by Risa, her newfound auburn-haired friend had brought her to the 'kitchen' – though not exactly a kitchen by modern standards, it was grand for feudal times – to clean the dishes. Kagome did not mind being given such a task; even though it was a lot of work for her to undertake, it was refreshing to be in a place that even _had_ dishes. She didn't realise how truly sick and tired she was of eating off of leaves, or bare hands, until she was confronted with dinnerware outside of being in the future.

The girls – and yes, she noted with some feminist dismay, they were all women – though scatty, were extremely pleasant to talk to. They greeted Kagome cordially, nodding their heads at her in quiet solidarity and sadness for their plight. Well, _their_ plight. The human women around her were likely plucked from their villages and forced into unwilling labour by the wolf demons of the north. The best case scenario for them was that their families were still alive, and Kagome could easily pick those girls out from the rest: they were downtrodden, and weary to the bone, but their eyes still held a tell-tale glimmer of hope within. The worst case scenario was…well, Kagome could pick those girls out easily, too. She did not fit in with either of these groups, though she did not mention this, as she was neither being held against her will (anymore) nor was her family dead, or in any danger from demons at all as a matter of fact. For the first half an hour or so the girls worked in silence, cleaning robotically and diligently until only a handful of plates remained unwashed. It was only then that one of them– a button-nosed cherub of a girl with soft blonde hair and an endearing smattering of freckles – leant towards Kagome and opened her mouth to speak.

'How long have you been a slave for?' She asked, tone hushed and gentle, barely loud enough to cut through the lukewarm air.

'Um. About four months I guess?' Kagome responded, feeling vaguely guilty. It wasn't a lie, technically, but she couldn't help but feel that her situation was so exponentially different the girls' around her that she was doing them a disservice by not telling them the complete truth. She could not share in their misery or woe, and it felt wrong to even pretend to. Still, she valued her life more than she valued her ideals of feminine comradeship and so for once she kept her mouth firmly closed.

'I've been here for seven years now.' The tiny girl whispered, rubbing a dirt-smudged hand across her dirt-smudged cheek. Kagome had to stop herself from physically recoiling. The girl was so young already – Kagome couldn't estimate her age being any higher than thirteen or fourteen years old – if the girl had been a slave for seven years then she would've spent most of her life confined to these caves.

'How old are you?' Kagome asked tenderly, trying to keep her voice at the same decibel as hers.

'Twelve.' The little girl replied solemnly, performing her duties deftly and with more skill than Kagome, who was six years her senior.

'And what's your name?' Kagome asked sweetly, suddenly feeling a maternal rush for the young child.

'Momo.' It was a cute name. Quite fitting for such a rosy-cheeked little girl, Kagome decided.

'Wow, what a pretty name! And you guys?' Kagome added, looking around the room aware that so far she had ignored all of its other inhabitants. Some of the girls introduced themselves tentatively, others merely looked cautiously at her and decided not to speak at all. Kagome could see that there had been punishments for talking whilst doing chores before.

'Well I'm Kagome. It's nice to meet you all.' She gave the most encouraging smile that she could, hoping that the sheer intensity of it could lift their downtrodden spirits some, but of course it could not. Years of slavery could not be washed away by a simple smile, no matter how jovial it appeared.

'How many slaves do the eastern wolves keep?' Risa asked, affording Kagome a quick glance as she worked.

'Huh? Oh, just me. I'm the only one.'

'What?' All the women raised their eyes at this, exchanging startled glances. 'You're the only slave?' Risa questioned, momentarily forgetting to keep her voice low.

'Well, yeah. They _really_ don't like humans back in the east. Besides Kouga only keeps me around for…' Kagome trailed off prematurely, noting with confusion the way the women had raised their hands to their mouths, aghast, eyes filled with pity and empathetic sorrow.

'I'm so sorry.' Risa choked out, her voice muffled by the hand still situated over her mouth.

'For what?' Kagome replied, honestly dumbfounded.

'We won't insult you by saying it out loud.' One of the more well-spoken and portly women stepped forward and offered a sympathetic hand to rub Kagome's shoulder. 'They can work us to the bone, but that is an indignity that I do not wish on anybody. Fortunately only a few of us have had to suffer such a fate; they tend to prefer copulating with their own kind.' She spat the words angrily, rage fuelling them.

'Wait, _what?!'_ Kagome screeched, loud enough for the other women to slap horrified hands over her mouth to quell the sound. They thought she was a _sex slave_? Kagome began to pull the hands off of her determinedly, anxious to correct their assertions, however she abruptly stopped. What could she possibly say? She couldn't correct them only to offer up no other explanation, and she couldn't tell them that she could detect the jewel shards; Kouga was clear about that and the life-threatening implications that such an admission could lead to. She couldn't tell them that she technically wasn't even a slave in the first place, either.

So, sex slave it was, then.

'Oh, well, you just do what you can.' She responded sheepishly, feeling horrendously guilty for telling such a huge lie.

'They're all savages!' Another woman cried, coming to place a hand on Kagome's cheek in a manner that Kagome assumed she meant to be gentle.

'Um. It's not that bad, I guess.' Kagome offered up lamely, watching the women's eyes as they widened.

'Oh you poor thing.' Risa sniffled woefully. 'Does he beat you if you complain?'

Even Momo's eyes glistened with unshed tears.

'N-um-well-I…sometimes.' She responded dismally. Having no choice other than to accept, she allowed their ensuing group-hug to envelop her, suffocating her with their empathy and bitter rage on her behalf.

She truly was the worst person ever.

* * *

The sun had lowered over the glacial peaks of the mountain long before Kouga and Kagome finally found themselves in each other's company once more.

Kagome had been instructed by one of Gurou's men to report back to the guest chambers, for which she was very thankful having undertaken a day of backbreaking hard labour. At first she placed herself primly on the bed, smoothing the ankle-length skirt and lacy top that Kouga had picked out for her as the most appropriate items of clothing for her to wear neatly, then quickly decided against her positioning. If another wolf demon was to stumble in on her actually _on the bed_ she had no doubt that she would be punished like she was some sort of dog. So instead she arranged herself as comfortably as she could on the 'bed' of hay that had been laid out for her to occupy.

When Kouga eventually did fling open the door, eyes immediately drawn to her small form, Kagome couldn't quell the urge to run up and hug him.

And so she did.

Rather theatrically, actually. She launched herself into his arms jumping high as if she were a ballerina soaring through the air and wrapping her legs around his firm – _very_ firm – waist. Kouga was momentarily too stunned to react to her having jammed her knee into his very sensitive stomach wound as she wrapped herself round him, and after checking that no one was around and hurriedly shutting the door behind him, he stood awkwardly, arms outstretched either side of him as the woman hung from his body like a small monkey.

'I'm so glad you're back!' She all but sobbed, nuzzling her nose into his neck in a rare instance of unbridled emotion for the wolf. Ah, now Kouga could feel the effects of her knee. Still, not knowing what to do in a situation where a wailing woman was clinging to him hysterically, he did not make any motion to tend to his wound, instead standing immovably still, arms still outstretched, as though he was doing his best impression of a tree.

'What's wrong with you?' Kagome asked, voice suddenly unequivocally serious. 'Have you never had someone hug you like this, or what?'

'Only during sex.' Kouga replied honestly, blinking dumbly, still too shocked to move.

'Oh.' Kagome replied as she scurried to climb off of him. The mood was effectively ruined.

Exhaling for what felt like the first time since he had entered the room, Kouga appraised her quickly. Other than being slightly more grimy than she had been at the start of the day, she appeared completely unharmed. A tightness that he hadn't even noticed he had lessened in his chest.

'Are you ok?' He asked, checking verbally to make sure that his conclusions were accurate.

'Yeah I'm fine. Tired, but fine.' He nodded his head in satisfaction.

'Good.'

'How was your day?' Kagome asked a little reluctantly, not overly looking forward to telling him about her conversation with the other women.

Kouga grumbled grouchily at her question as he collapsed onto the bed. 'I spent the whole day being toured around by that asshole.' He growled. 'And then when he got bored of showing me his mediocre caves he pawned me off to his men and insisted I stay and 'get to know them'.' He parroted in a voice entirely unlike Gurou's. 'What about you?' He asked gruffly as he rubbed a hand over his annoyingly agitating wound.

'Fine.' Kagome squeaked a little too quickly. 'Well, actually, the thing is…the thing is, some of the other women – the human ones – _may_ have _maybe_ assumed that…well, that you're keeping me as your sex slave, and now they think you're a sick rapist.' The end of her speech came out garbled and frantic as she tried to push the words out of her mouth as quickly as possible.

Kouga sat up a little too abruptly, jarring his wound. 'You told them I _rape_ you?' He asked with a wince, looking so honestly shocked that Kagome almost felt like bursting into tears at her inability to come up with a convincing lie.

'No, I didn't tell them you were. They just…assumed that you were.'

'And you didn't correct them?' He responded in disbelief.

'What was I supposed to say? 'Oh, no, he doesn't rape me, I actually stay with him willingly and I find jewel shards for him, which, by the way, I have the magical ability to see'. Sure, that would go down well.' She huffed sarcastically, still feeling immensely guilty.

Kouga sighed resignedly and lay back down.

'How's your stomach?' Kagome asked, desperate to change the subject and suddenly remembering his injury. 'Shouldn't we change the bandages now?'

'I can handle it.' He replied, arm draped over his eyes.

'Don't be silly. You're way too rough with things like that. You'll probably just rip a new hole in yourself.'

He protested only minimally as she jumped off of the bed and scampered to her beloved first aid kit. Upon returning, she fumbled uselessly in the general location that she had seen Kouga unlatch the armour around his torso in, before giving up and requesting that he remove it himself.

'Asking me to get naked, eh?' He said with a smile, arm still obstructing his eyes from her view.

'Even if I were it wouldn't matter. You couldn't bone someone with a wound like that.'

Kouga made a mental note of the word ' _bone'_ in his head, having never heard it in that context before, but understanding her intended meaning behind it. He sat up and looked deeply into her eyes.

'Trust me, a little flesh wound like this wouldn't keep me from ' _boning_ ' anyone.' Kagome smacked his shoulder lightly in response.

'Psh. I'd like to see you try.' She admonished, taking only a _brief_ second to admire his perfectly sculpted abs and broad, manly pectorals before turning her eyes to a more appropriate location on his body.

'Would you?' Kouga quipped, motioning as though he was going to strip himself completely.

'Er. On second thoughts, no.'

They lapsed into a peaceful silence as Kagome once again went about changing his bandages for him. She commented on how much better the wound looked already since that morning, and Kouga grumbled that that was surprising as it didn't feel like it.

'So what did you do today other than spread malicious lies about me?' Kouga asked with somewhat of a lopsided grin.

'Work.' Kagome responded with a raised brow, stifling the urge to burst into song. He wouldn't get it anyway.

'You? Work?' Kouga feigned surprise.

'Excuse me, I do a lot of work around the house back home.'

'Oh? So why is it that you're so lazy in _my_ house?' Kouga chastised, not entirely seriously.

'Because screw you, that's why.' She paused a beat, but before he could say anything else she began to speak again. 'I met a girl today. Her name was Momo. She was only twelve years old, but she'd been kept as a slave her for seven years.'

'Oh?' Kouga was clearly disinterested.

'Don't you think that's awful? She was kidnapped and taken as a slave when she was six years old for God's sake.' Kouga shrugged noncommittally. 'What's that supposed to mean?' Kagome questioned, feeling irked.

'She's a human. They get taken as slaves. It happens.'

'Really? That's all you have to say? You don't even care?' Kagome asked disgustedly, stopping her ministrations on his wound.

'It's not necessarily that I don't care,' Kouga began, trying to find the words to placate the girl whilst still being honest, 'it's just that that's how it is. Humans get taken as slaves sometimes and even if I wanted to change it, I couldn't.'

Kagome sighed and nodded, his words ringing all too true in her ears.

'Why are you so bothered by this one anyway? I don't hear you telling me the sob stories of every other slave here, so why her?' Kouga continued rather unsympathetically again.

'Obviously I'm upset for all the women here.' She responded indignantly. 'It's just that…Momo is so young and…she almost reminds me of my brother a little bit. Well, like the girl version of him anyway.'

'I see.'

Kagome paused momentarily in thought. 'They'll be bringing slaves with them when they come back with us, right?'

'I doubt it.' Kouga replied, wrinkling his nose. 'Gurou asked if he could since we don't have any slaves-' his exact words of 'since you only have one, and you'll no doubt be too busy playing with her yourself to share with the rest of us' still freezing his veins with icy rage, '-but I told him no. You're trouble enough.'

'Well I'm gonna need you to un-tell him no.'

'And why's that?' Kouga asked dryly, not partial to being ordered around.

'Because I want to talk to Momo more, and the only way I'm gonna be able to do that is if she comes back to the east with us.'

'They're not gonna bring a kid like that with them.' Kouga responded disgustedly. 'They're gonna want someone they can lay with during the festival, not her.'

'Well then ask them to bring her along.'

'You want me to request that they bring a specific human slave with them?' Kouga looked at her as if she was crazy. Kagome responded with her best puppy-dog eyes. 'I'll see what I can do.' He finally acquiesced, not at all happy or comfortable with the idea, but for some reason going along with it anyway.

By this point, Kagome had successfully changed his bandages and spent a second too long admiring Kouga's torso again for him not to notice. He considered teasing her, perhaps asking her if she liked what she saw, but Kouga's soured mood stopped him from doing so.

'Get changed. Get into bed. We're leaving tomorrow.' He ordered, not sparing her a glance.

'We are?'

'We are if I have anything to do with it. I wanna go home, these caves stink.'

Kagome sniffed the air delicately. Wolves smelled like wolves, as far as she was concerned. She undressed as he commanded, squatting down and ducking behind the side of the bed, having to practically lie on the floor to put her pyjamas on without Kouga seeing. Not that he was looking of course, but Kagome liked to think that he had wanted to.

She climbed underneath the covers beside him, and he leaned over to extinguish the flame from a nearby lamp.

'Goodnight, Kouga.' Kagome whispered.

'Yeah.' He replied sullenly, reproachful about the day ahead.

When morning came he told Gurou that he had changed his mind and that he could in fact bring some humans, specifically the little girl named Momo. He made some unconvincing excuse that Kagome had said she was a hard worker and that he had use for her, and Gurou gave him a knowing look – though just what he knew Kouga wasn't sure. He otherwise agreed, however, and when Kouga informed him that they'd be leaving that day, he agreed to that too.

'You ready?' Kouga asked Kagome quietly, as she stood huddled next to him in the big fur coat that he had given her, knowing that he would be unable to carry her or show her any particular kindness whilst the other demons were around.

'As ready as I'll ever be, I guess.' She replied as she began to march forward alone, her silhouette quickly disappearing from sight as the gale around her raged on.

* * *

 **I don't know about you guys but I'm ready to be back home in the east tbh :O I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'll try and get the next one out on time! Until next time guys~**


	13. Chapter 13

**Guys :') I'm back :')**

 **So if anyone checked my profile in the past few days, I did do an update for the first time in months :p I'm sorry for the length in between chapters, I just have so much work to do that finding the time to put the effort into writing a chapter to a decent quality has been difficult. That being said, I've spent the past few weeks trying to get this one out for you :)**

 **I have done some housekeeping on this fic, and noticed a few things that need pointing out. I re-read the fic because I couldn't remember a lot of what I'd written since it had been months since I'd even attempted to write a chapter. I was very reluctant to do this because I get really embarrassed reading my own stuff (but I'm happy to say I actually enjoyed reading it after I did all my cringing XD), and at first I just intended to read it. Then, impulsive as I am I decided that I would start correcting any mistakes I saw on chapter 6...so chapter 6 and onwards has for the most part been proof-read, though I probably have missed things. Before chapter 6, it hasn't been. I know somewhere before chapter 6 I wrote the word 'piquing' as 'peaking' and that's really bugging me, and also I kept capitalising 'north, east, south, west' etc., which I'm not sure why because they don't need capitalising, and I know this XD. Eventually I'll go back and shape up the earlier chapters.**

 **Might be important for you to read this next bit so that you know what's going on with the story.**

 **Discrepancies that I've noticed:**

 **Where Kouga comes from: originally I said that Kouga was from the west I believe, then I said he was from the south, and I'm not sure if I altered that when I went through the chapters, but I originally said that he was from the west, so that's what I'm sticking with.**

 **Nami: originally I said her eyes are green, and then I think I said they were pink? Either way, they're green guys. Deal with it.**

 **Timeline: it doesn't actually add up hahaha. So I think I counted up to chapter 8 that from my description of the passage of time about 26 days had elapsed, and then in the next chapter or so Kagome's like 'oh I've known you for about 4 months now!' No Kagome, you haven't. Y u so dumb. We're gonna meet in the middle and say she's been with the wolf demons for about 2 months guys. I'll have to go back edit all of this stuff eventually XD**

 **Number of wolves in the eastern tribe: I don't know what particular brand of crack I was smoking when I said that Kouga's tribe had 300 demons in it but...no, no. That's way too many. Kouga's tribe is about a mid-sized tribe, so we're gonna say he has about 40 or so people in it. Wtf I was thinking when I said 300, I do not know. Ain't nobody got time to be inventing 300 OC's, ok XD**

 **That's all I can remember, and I will update this all at some point guys. If I notice anything else that's amiss, I'll let you know in later chapters.**

 **Finally, I had a reviewer review my story a couple of days ago after I posted my first update, called Fancollector, but your PM is off! So I just wanted to say thank you so much for dropping a message of encouragement, I hope you are pleased to see a new chapter :D glad I could bring you over to the KxK dark side as well ;)**

 **Thank you for the continued support guys, you all make my day 3**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 13**

The snow was too deep, and they were walking too fast. Inevitably, she tripped.

'Get up. Just keep walking.' Kouga had hissed at her, making a show of yanking her forearm forcefully and pulling her off of the ground for the sake of prying eyes of suspicious wolves, whilst still being fairly gentle.

' _Just keep walking.'_ He had said that last time, too.

* * *

'Just keep walking, Kagome.' He murmured through gritted teeth.

She did as she was told, her miko powers tingling every nerve as she prepared to strike at any moment. With his strength and speed, being outnumbered as he was would be no issue for Kouga, Kagome knew that. However, if he intended to escape with her alive, he had no choice but to favour stealth over speed and strength. They surrounded them on all sides, swaying eerily back and forth as they slumbered collectively. The day was strongly in its prime and yet it was dark, as if the sun itself could not help but to cringe away from them and their vacant stares.

His main focus had been getting Kagome out alive; that much was evident in the narrowing of his eyes, the set of his jaw. And somehow, he had done it. He had saved her from the perturbing hive mind that had taken her, and he had done so without causing her even a scratch.

Once they were safely out of their lair, he broke into a run at breakneck speed, not stopping until he was sure that Kagome was more than far enough away and yet still wanting to run further. Sweat shone on his brow, but that had appeared before he began running, perspiring from the sheer effort of straining to make not even a single noise. He would not risk her safety because he was too heavy-footed.

They collapsed on the ground, only now allowing themselves to breathe, carbon dioxide coming from their mouths in deep pants.

'I can't believe that you managed that,' Kagome breathed in awe, 'there were so many of them.'

'Yeah, well, I didn't see any other option.' Kouga's brows were still furrowed and he was clearly on edge, panicked adrenaline still spurting through his veins uncomfortably.

'You could've fought them.' Kagome smiled, trying to uplift the mood by uplifting her face.

'No.' Kouga responded gruffly. 'That would've put you in danger. There's no way I'd ever risk your life, Kagome.'

'Gee, if only you'd been this careful with me the day you kidnapped me.' She laughed, running a hand along his arm softly, reassuring him with contact.

Kouga snorted and turned to look at her, some of the familiar mischief returning to his eyes. 'Are you gonna bring that up every time I see you?'

'Of course. I still owe Ginta a leg.' Kagome waggled her eyebrows jokingly.

'I'm pretty sure that was Hakkaku.' He replied, laughing right along with her.

'Are you sure? I'm pretty certain it was Ginta.' She knitted her brows together as if contemplating the meaning of life.

'I'm not so sure about that. Hakkaku is a leg man, after all.'

'I bet he is.' She giggled, 'and Ginta's what? A liver man?'

'Hey, what they get up to in their free time is none of my business.' Kouga chortled, leaning his head back against the kindly bark of the tree behind him. They sat together, comfortable in silence with adrenaline still pounding.

'Thank you for coming to save me.' Kagome all but whispered, lacing her fingers with his delicately in a show of true gratitude.

Some of his residue anger returned. 'I shouldn't have had to save you, Kagome. That mutt shouldn't have let you get taken in the first place.' Kagome opened her mouth, no doubt to defend him, but Kouga couldn't bear to hear her repeat the same thing over and over again, and so he didn't offer her the chance to do so. 'You could've died today. Do you understand that, Kagome?'

'Of course I understand,' Kagome replied, a little chagrined and a little uncomfortable with Kouga's accusatory tone, 'but I didn't. You saved me. That's all that matters.'

'No, it isn't. If that useless fuck actually did the only thing his pathetic life is good for and protected you like he should, you wouldn't be put in danger time and time again.' Kouga's teeth were clenched so hard he could feel them creak under the strength of his jaw.

'Stop it Kouga, you're being unkind.' It stung to hear Kouga speak so harshly of Inuyasha, even if she had on occasion caught herself wishing that Inuyasha would be a little more concerned with her safety.

'All I'm doing is speaking the truth. It's not my fault if you don't wanna hear it.' Kouga snapped, tired of hearing her exonerate Inuyasha of any blame again and again.

Kagome, equally as tired with having to constantly defend Inuyasha against Kouga's insults, changed the subject. 'What were those demons?'

Kouga exhaled a singular, frustrated breath. 'They're known as the 'Legion'. They're creepy fucking demons that have one, singular consciousness between them all. That's why I didn't want to just run in there and start crushing skulls; because their minds are all connected and so they're all entirely in sync. They all know what the others are thinking and so they're incredibly tactical in fights.'

'You could've fought them and come out of it alright.' Kagome offered rather obviously.

'Of course _I_ could've,' Kouga responded, looking at her as if she had hit her head and was now speaking gibberish. 'I would've just kicked their asses. But, if I had done that, they almost definitely would've surrounded you while I was busy with…well…them, and killed you.'

'Good thing they decided to take a random nap in the middle of the day, then.' Kagome mumbled, confused as to why the strange, horned creatures had all of a sudden decided to collectively catch up on their beauty sleep.

'It's because of the sun.' Kouga explained. 'Apparently they sleep when the sun is at its apex in the sky, because that's when it's at its brightest and hottest, and their skin is sensitive to the light.'

'So…they get sunburnt?' Kagome asked incredulously, finding it fairly hilarious that the quivering mass of nightmares that had snatched her so rudely from her friends were the demon equivalent of a ginger kid.

Kouga shrugged. 'Or so they say. I've never really dealt with those types of obscure demons until all this jewel shard business came to light. They're out there though; not every demon is a fluffy fox or a devastatingly handsome apex predator-' he flashed her a wolfish grin, '-some of them are more…demonic than that.'

'Noted. I'll make sure to stock up on the holy water for next time then.' Kagome joked. Kouga offered her an obliging chuckle in response.

Eventually their hearts calmed, and Kagome's legs de-jellified enough that she felt able to stand. Kouga offered her a gentlemanly hand despite her assurances, and he stabilised her when she wobbled slightly. With feigned cheer, she exclaimed about finding Inuyasha and continuing on with their quest to find the jewel shards, but before she could march on with swinging arms, Kouga pulled her towards him, her hand still gripped in his.

'I would never put you in danger like he does.' He said, eyes so haunting with the force of his sincerity that Kagome felt like she was being entranced by them, captivated by each flicker of his iris as he searched her own, desperate to find even a glimmer of hope that she felt something the way he felt for her.

And she had replied to him…she had replied…she replied…

She was flying, or was it falling? The sky fell away from her as she plunged downwards, though she was not afraid. She knew that his strong shoulder was beneath her, and that he would not let her die. She cast a quick glance beneath her, perhaps to smile or encourage, but found that no one was there.

She really was falling, and she was all alone. Kouga was not there as she thought he would be, as she knew he _should_ be, and so she had no choice but to plunge into the darkness.

* * *

'Sshhhh!' The frantic voice hissed.

Kagome was being suffocated, a weight covering her mouth, obstructing her breathing as she choked on her own tears. It was pitch black around her, and she was going to die. She would hit the ground and no one would save her.

Desperately, even a little manically in his urgency to quiet her before she awoke the northern wolves, he pulled her body close to his and rocked her back and forth steadily.

'Be quiet, please Kagome.' He whispered into the crook of her neck, hoping to placate her with a type of intimacy that he had neither received nor given before that moment.

'You lied to me. You said that you would protect me, but you let me fall.' Kagome sobbed as her screams turned to rivers of salty tears.

'What?' Kouga asked, still gentle in tone so as not to exacerbate her hysteria.

'You said you'd never put me in danger.' She whimpered, chest heaving as she inhaled and exhaled mournfully.

'When was this?' He asked, voice rising slightly. Kouga could not remember making such a promise; in fact he had put her in danger many times.

'When you rescued me from the…from the Legion…' Kagome responded, brows furrowing as she began to push herself away from his strong chest. 'Where are we?' She surveyed her surroundings confusedly, eyes adjusting to the darkness some.

'In the halfway caves close to home.' Kouga said slowly, beginning to become very concerned. 'Where we stopped with the northern tribe to rest for the night. Because we're going to get back home by tomorrow afternoon?'

'The northern tribes? But I thought we were…oh.' Kagome suddenly felt very dizzy, her body leaning backwards as strange spots danced in front of her eyes.

'Kagome?' Kouga prompted urgently, struggling to maintain a volume to his voice that would not rouse the other demons as his fear for her state of mind increased.

'I must have been dreaming…but it was the most vivid dream I've ever had.' Kagome shook her head, finding it difficult to discern reality from fiction. She could feel each touch, each wild heartbeat. She could still sense the warmth on her cheek from Kouga's calloused hand.

'How…how did we get here?' She whispered weakly, suddenly dog-tired and very much confused.

'We walked? Kagome, what's going on? You're acting strangely.' That was an understatement.

'I don't know. I just…I had this dream that you saved me from some demons and it just – it felt so real. I don't remember how we got here, either.'

'What is the last thing that you remember?' Kouga couldn't help but exhale a shaky breath. Memory loss in _demons_ was cause for concern, so for humans it must be dire.

'I remember…I remember leaving the north. I tripped and you told me to 'just keep walking'.'

' _That's_ the last thing you remember? Kagome that was almost two weeks ago.'

Kagome searched her mind furiously for any kind of memory or recollection of the time in between then and now, but to her deep dismay she remembered nothing. Only her dream.

'I don't remember.' She answered him meekly. She felt sick with the realisation that two weeks of her life had been stolen from her, and condensed into one confusing dream, and petrified about what that memory loss meant.

'Don't worry about it.' Kouga assured her suddenly very authoritatively. 'You have nothing to worry about. I'm sure it's just the stress of travelling with the northern wolves and dealing with the cold weather in your ridiculous little garments.'

Kagome looked doubtful, eyes shining with the beginnings of scared tears.

'There's nothing to worry about. Don't think about it again.' He commanded, knowing that if he exposed his own fear to her the girl would only become more hysterical. He would watch her closely for the next few weeks, he decided, and if anything at all seemed amiss he would act upon it, but for now she needed him to be her rock, not crumbling stone.

* * *

When Kouga returned, all of his men cheered. Kouga liked to believe that they were cheering because they were overjoyed at their celebrated leader's return, however he knew that more than likely they were cheering at the prospect of spending the next few nights neck deep in drink and almost as deep in women.

In the exuberant furore, Kouga managed to usher Kagome to his chambers to rest without so much of a sideways glance from any of his pack, and for that he was grateful. He was anxious that the stress of hatred would only serve to harm her mental state further, not to mention that of her and emotional wellbeing.

'Men.' He addressed them all, raising his voice only slightly and commanding their silence with sheer, domineering presence alone. 'And women.' He added for good measure to a chorus of appreciative purrs. 'Our northern brothers and sisters have joined us.' A cry of manic excitement.

'This week we will celebrate the lunar festival with them. Tonight and every night for the next seven days we will eat, we will drink and we will indulge in each other's company in every way.' A screamed affirmation of 'YES!' came from one of the men in his pack. 'But there are rules. We will show our northern friends the same kind of respect that they will undoubtedly show us. We will treat them as family, and we will welcome them into our home, but there will be no fighting while they are here. The lunar festival holds a rare tradition of peace for wolf demons, and we _will_ respect that.' It was not a request, though demons on both sides muttered their affirmations just the same.

'My northern brothers and sisters,' he turned to address only the northern tribe now, his cheeks shaking with the effort to retain his feigned smile of camaraderie, 'Gurou. While you are here, what's mine is yours. It is an honour to host you all this year, and I hope that you find your stay here to your liking.'

He ended his speech abruptly, no longer able to feign pleasantries with a tribe that he would rather see leave than stay.

'Oh, and there are human slaves that have joined us from the north,' he addressed his own pack again with eyes narrowed to sinister slits, 'and they will not be harmed in any way. Anyone that touches our friends' slaves will die violently.'

Even the presence of humans was not enough to quell the rising euphoria among his pack, as apart from the occasional predictable mumble of 'not more humans' from some of them, for the most part they seemed happy to comply with his rules in exchange for the promise of the festival.

* * *

The day's events had gone by relatively smoothly. Shortly after his welcoming of the northern tribe to his caves, he returned to his chambers to seek out Kagome. Other than a slight headache she appeared fine, and intimated as much herself. Aimlessly, he left his chambers with the command that she get some rest. The atmosphere in his caves was that of jovial relaxation, and Kouga was not used to sharing in such festivities. He sat awkwardly in his usual spot as the men and women around him laughed and chatted, only being given respite from his lack of objective when Gurou approached him.

'My slaves need somewhere to go, Kouga.' He said, still chuckling away the remnants of a prior conversation.

'Huh?'

'My slaves.' He pointed at a bunch of clearly afraid and tired-looking humans standing at the edge of the cave.

'Oh.' Kouga had never really had much experience with human slaves, and being truthful he had forgotten that they had even come with them. 'Just…put them in the housing caves. They can…clean stuff there.'

'And the housing caves are where…?' Gurou responded, grinning in an infuriating way. Kouga was fairly certain that Gurou remembered exactly where they were from his previous visits when the tribe was under different rule, but did not want to leave the commotion and festivity to escort a bunch of humans to do laundry. That left the task up to Kouga, then.

He sighed dramatically. 'Slaves. Follow me.'

At the sound of his voice they cumulatively jumped and rushed to his side, no doubt having been trained by harsh words and harsher punishments to obey orders immediately.

He led the pathetic bunch in silence, twisting and weaving through the sinuous caves and corridors with ease, the humans rushing to keep a similar pace. He stopped where the housing chambers began.

'You lot stay here. Clean things that look dirty.' He ordered gruffly, not wanting to spend any more time in their presence than absolutely necessary. Their wide, sad eyes made him uncomfortable.

As he turned to walk away, one of the braver slaves – a thin young girl with olive skin and bronze hair – addressed him, to condemning gasps from the other slaves.

'Forgive me for daring to speak to you my Lord, but-' the shake in her voice was evident, and Kouga put up a brusque hand to cease her speech.

'My name is Kouga. Do not call me 'my Lord', ' your highness', or any other variations of that.' It was pretence, and it was agitating.

'But my Lord, I couldn't possibly call you by your name-' the girl stuttered, rushing and tripping over her words.

Kouga stopped her again. 'Then do not call me anything at all.' He narrowed his eyes in emphasis; he did not want to be addressed in such a way for a third time.

'Yes, please forgive my l-' she bit her tongue, '…please forgive me. But I must ask, where are we to sleep once we have finished attending to your needs and orders?'

The little slave had a good point. Where were they to sleep? The eastern caves had no provision for slaves, and though there were only six or seven of them. Kouga was unsure as to where to house them. They certainly could not sleep in the housing chambers with the other wolves – they'd be ripped to shreds in minutes. They needed to be kept away from his pack, but having no designated slave chambers made this difficult.

It was imperative that they remained uninjured for the duration of the northern tribe's stay. Though Gurou and his pack likely did not care at all about their lives, to kill them would be akin to disrespecting them and their possessions, and that would only end in bloodshed. Kouga would not have those bastards bringing a battle into his home over some worthless little humans.

He could not leave them in one of the more secluded caves, because as secluded as they were, his wolves did still venture there. Though he was fairly certain that the humans would be safe (after all, who would dare to defy a direct order from him?), he did not want to take even the most remote of chance that harm could befall them, which would undoubtedly spark a deadly feud with the north. When the north eventually fell by Kouga's hands – and they would – it would not be because a silly little girl got her blood splashed over one of his caves.

He put a contemplative hand to his chin, and looked down at the girl who immediately averted eye contact, heart beating rapidly in her chest.

'Provisions will be made for your housing later. For now, stay here.' They all nodded obediently at him, eyes simultaneously lowered in deference.

Kouga considered bidding them farewell, but as they were only slaves, he did not. Instead he simply turned and left them as they remained glued to their spot, heads dipped until he was out of sight. Then, they presumably got to work.

* * *

Readying the sleeping arrangements for the slaves proved much more of a pain in the ass than Kouga realised. In the end he had actually had to seek out the trusted members of his pack – mainly Ginta, Hakkaku and Katsumi – and all but beg them, his subordinates, to house the slaves in their quarters. Each scrunched their nose up in distaste, Ginta and Hakkaku shuffling awkwardly from side-to-side, desperately wanting to say no but unable to refuse a direct, yet slightly pleaded request from their alpha.

Katsumi was more difficult to convince. Upon first request she merely surveyed him over the rim of her cup, and then proceeded to laugh uproariously at his suggestion. After several minutes of pointless posturing and intimidation, Kouga finally acquiesced and promised her that she could lead the next hunt, and assemble a hunting team with whomever she chooses.

'Excellent.' She had rubbed her hands together cunningly. 'I'm gonna put Takeshi and Subaru together; they have that feud over that little hussy, remember? What was her name?' Kouga shrugged disinterestedly. 'Anyway, it should be hilarious. Maybe they'll even kill each other.' She cackled, with a disturbing amount of glee.

'Just make sure you bring back some actual food, ok?' He sighed, finger pinching the bridge of his nose unhappily. Knowing her, she would assemble a team that was rife with betrayal, feuds and anger and nothing would be caught to eat and they'd all starve.

'Well, worst comes to the worst, we can eat the lifeless husks of whoever doesn't make it back?' She offered unhelpfully.

'Excellent.' Kouga sighed, mimicking her earlier sentiment.

Despite the progress that he had made, he still had two irritating problems left over. Ginta and Hakkaku only had room for once each in their chambers (the right and left-hand men of the alpha were assigned their own private space, however it was decidedly smaller than Kouga's), and though Katsumi had space for more, having demanded the second largest chambers in the eastern caves, she too refused to house more than two of them.

'Why don't you just let the other two sleep in here?' Kagome offered cheerily, a little excited at the prospect of finally being able to interact with some actual humans.

'Here?' Kouga physically recoiled. 'In _my_ chambers?'

'You let me stay in here. And it's huge.' Kagome folded her arms and considered asking him if he needed his diaper changed while he threw his tantrum, too.

'You're the exception,' he stated through gritted teeth, 'those slaves are not staying in here.'

'Then where else are they gonna stay?' She asked through gritted teeth, trying to summon a zen-like calm in order to appeal to his rational side.

'You said it yourself: if one _your_ pack kills one of _their_ slaves, they'll take that as a sign of disrespect and hostility and who knows what will happen then. Do you really want to start a war over something like that?' Kagome reasoned, using the most even tone she could muster.

He took several long moments to consider this, drinking in the silence with his contemplative face, mouth downturned handsomely, and masculine eyebrows knitted together in reluctant thought.

'You don't understand,' he began, trailing off hesitantly, gaze still affixed to the ground. 'I just…nobody is allowed in my chambers. Nobody.'

'I am.' Kagome offered once again, softly.

'You're different.' His response was simple and closed.

'Look,' Kagome began with a frustrated sigh, 'why don't you explain to me what your hang up about people being in your room is? I can't help or try to suggest alternatives if I don't even know your reasons behind it.'

Desiring an answer but not expecting one, Kagome waited impatiently for any hint of an explanation, one single tantalising view into Kouga's complicated mind. As expected, he did not deliver.

'Fine. They can stay in here. But they are to be told to keep that fact strictly secret, and you'll have to sleep on the floor too.'

Kagome nodded her head eagerly. 'Yeah, that's all fine, I'm sure they won't mind not telling anyone-wait, what?' She stopped mid-sentence, face aghast with horror. 'Why do I have to sleep on the floor!'

'Don't you think it would be a little suspicious for me, the all-powerful alpha of the eastern tribe to allow a simple slave to sleep in his bed?' Kouga drawled sarcastically, taking spiteful pleasure out of the fact that if he would have to put up with humans in his chambers, Kagome would be just as unhappy with the arrangement as he was.

'But-but,' she stuttered, wide-eyed dissatisfaction plain on her face.

'If you don't want to sleep on the floor Kagome, all you have to do is say. Then they can sleep outside or somewhere and you can sleep in the bed again.' He secretly prayed she'd agree. 'And you do like the bed, don't you? Look how soft it is-' he emphasised this point by running a teasing hand over its tempting mattress.

'Shut up!' She half-growled, half-laughed as she slapped him playfully on the shoulder. Goddamn him, he was right. She felt a ripple of guilt, but she couldn't deny that the prospect of spending the next week or so lying on the cold, hard floor without the concessions of the bed and Kouga's somewhat kindness that she had grown used to made her want to throw up violently and then kick every other human in the caves out.

'Well…maybe Nami can take them? It's only two more girls, right?' She muttered reluctantly, kicking herself for being so selfish and concerned with her own comfort when it was her idea for them to be brought with the northern tribe anyway.

As if sensing her inner turmoil, Kouga placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. 'It's not a bad thing to not want to spend the next week sleepless and uncomfortable, Kagome.'

'Easy for you to say,' she grumbled, eyes stinging embarrassingly and out of shame. 'You don't want them in here anyway.'

'That's true,' Kouga asserted with an infuriating lack of shame, 'but I also don't want to spend a night without you lying next to me, either.'

His words caught her mid-blink, and for the briefest of seconds her eyes remained closed instead of reflexively opening, his admission stunning her into temporary blindness. She forced her eyes to pop open, part of her wishing that she could keep them closed forever, suspended in the space between reality and darkness behind her eyelids.

Her heart hammered so hard in her chest, that when she did open her mouth to speak, licking her lips nervously first, her voice was audibly vibrating. 'What…what did you just say?'

In that moment, his eyes seemed impossibly blue, and the raw intensity with which they portrayed his emotions caused Kagome to forget what oxygen even was. He brushed a stray strand of hair from the tops of cheekbones slowly and with purpose, and tucked it behind her ears tenderly, his gaze never faltering for one second as he did so.

'I said: I don't want to spend one single night without you lying next to me.' He repeated, voice dark, but with a paralyzing amount of sensuality. It was as if the process of breathing came back to Kagome with a renewed sense of vigour, her breath tearing through lungs deeply, painfully, as his eyes stared inexorably into hers.

Very much on the edge of hyperventilation, Kagome parted her unceasingly dry lips, voice coming out hoarsely, and cracking at the edges of each word. 'Are you being serious?'

'Nah.' And just like that, he laughed. 'Just kidding. But I still don't want the humans in my chambers. Talk to Takeshi's sister, see what you can arrange.'

As quickly as the mood between them changed, Kouga left, using all his restraint to refrain from running from the room in the desperate need to escape. Once out of her eyesight, he put a single palm across his heart and massaged the rapidly pulsating organ. His ministrations failed to yield any results however, and his heart continued its assault on his ribcage, quickening with each second that elapsed in time.

For the first time since he was a child, Kouga could honestly say that he was terrified.

Kagome, on the other hand, was furious. Whether this was at herself, or at him she wasn't sure; all she could feel was the char of molten lava running through her body, drying her blood and cauterising her veins.

How dare he play such a cruel trick? How dare she be stupid enough to fall for it? Even now as she was consumed by the fires of anger, her heart still fluttered and tingled, Kouga's every word begging to fall from the tip of her tongue just so she could hear them be repeated again. Her mind clung to each syllable, each phonetic sound of the words devotedly, replaying them like over and over like a sacred mantra.

' _I don't want to spend one single night without you lying next to me…'_

* * *

Kagome had no idea how to set about the task thrust upon her by Kouga – she had no idea where Nami was, and it wasn't like she had free range to wander the caves in search of her. Well, not safely, anyway.

Not one to give up easily, however – and in desperate need of a distraction from her own traitorous mind – she did manage to accomplish her objective, finding Nami enjoying the last remaining rays of orange sun on the peak of a small hill, long grass swishing lazily at her ankles. At first Kagome begged, offered (almost literally) life and limb, for the ability to continue spend her nights alone with Kouga. The severity with which she desired to do so distressed her deeply, as prior to their conversation she hadn't even given a thought to not being able to sleep next to him. But after he looked at her that way, eyes as deep and infinite as the ocean, and spoke to her in that voice that promised such devotion, Kagome was powerless to resist the passionate need to make his words a reality.

In the end, Nami would not be swayed for fear of her brother's undoubtedly frosty response, and so Kagome instead employed the only thing left in her arsenal, and she lied.

'Kouga said it was a direct order from him,' she shrugged in a sympathetic yet powerless manner, 'he told me to tell you to tell Takeshi that. He didn't seem like he would take 'no' for an answer.'

Nami squeaked, mouth forming into an uneasy 'o', before admonishing Kagome for not mentioning earlier that it was her alpha's _direct order_ that they house the slaves. She scurried away quickly, with words of preparing their chambers and informing her brother of Kouga's command.

The worst part was that Kagome didn't even feel bad for lying.

* * *

Some hours later, and Kouga was still thoroughly unnerved from the moment that he had shared with Kagome. His veins buzzed with a frantic energy and his skin tingled uncomfortably.

' _Nah, just kidding.'_ He had said, but nothing could be further from the truth. In that one, inexorable moment he had spoken instinctually, the words tumbling from his mouth as if of their own accord, and what scared him the most is the extent to which he meant them. Only the prospect of sleeping alone, watching as Kagome writhed uncomfortably on the unyielding stone floor all night long alerted him as to how much he truly _didn't_ want her to be anywhere but by his side. She made him laugh, and in equal parts she made him angry, but above all he couldn't deny the absolute comfort that he derived from her presence. Reluctant to admit it though he was, when he was with her he experienced moments of utter serenity, the likes of which he had neither experienced by himself, nor with anyone else _but_ her. Of course there was always an element of annoyance that followed her: she challenged him in ways that many didn't dare, and she could be obstinately stubborn, but despite this and in a moment of perfect clarity, Kouga realised that he had become attached to her.

And it terrified him.

'Kouga!' Gurou called gratingly. Several hours had passed since the last time Kouga had had the displeasure of speaking to him directly, and festivities had long since commenced.

'Thank you again for inviting us to your caves, brother, I hadn't realised that they were so…quaint.' He surveyed his surroundings as if to emphasise his point, and smiled a closed-mouth smile sympathetically. 'Of course, if the lunar festival had been held at the northern caves there would be enough room for everybody, but never mind. You'll have that to look forward to next year.'

'I don't see anyone else complaining.' Kouga responded through gritted teeth, wanting nothing more than to punch his teeth down his throat.

'I'm not complaining,' Gurou explained saccharinely, full of false sincerity, 'I'm merely pointing out an observation.'

Kouga only grunted in begrudging response.

Unsatisfied with this ending to their conversation, Gurou spoke again. 'I'm surprised that you're not celebrating with the rest of the pack. The drinking has been underway for hours, you know.'

'Somebody has to babysit the children.' Kouga stated gruffly. He took in the room around him; countless numbers of his men mixed with the northern tribe, socialising and drinking. The din in the cave was unbelievably loud, as drinks were poured, laughter was roared and intoxication made regular speech ten times louder. The northern women cozied up to his men, and even from just a quick appraising glance he could see several non-sectarian couples, talking intimately, touching passionately and indulging in the darker of their desires.

It was common practice in wolf demon culture that the lunar festival was a time for sharing, and that included sharing bodies. Women and men alike actively attempted to secure a mate for the night, and it wasn't uncommon for those who were unsuccessful to be ridiculed. The exotic lure of the different tribes was especially intoxicating when drinks and merriment were abundant, and even those mated to partners from their own tribes would occasionally try and obtain one, passionate night with a rare beauty or handsome warrior from the other tribe. The lunar festival may have been good for morale, but it was terrible for faithfulness, and the ensuing fall out from some of the mated couples in Kouga's tribe would be enough to give him a headache for weeks.

Gurou hummed contemplatively, breaking Kouga out of his reverie. 'Are you sure? You seem a little on edge. Are you eager to get back to someone, perhaps?' He smiled knowingly, exposing a set of razor-sharp teeth.

'No.' Kouga responded quickly, too quickly. 'I just don't really enjoy this type of thing. I prefer to be in control of my own body.'

'Why? Afraid that if you get drunk you won't be able to defend yourself, and someone will steal your crown?' Gurou teased, with no hint playfulness in his voice.

'I can assure you, I'm more than capable of defending myself, sober or otherwise.' Kouga growled menacingly, smile pasted on his face to keep up the tiring game of pretence that Gurou insisted on playing.

Gurou held up his hands in mock defeat. 'If you say so.' He replied, clearly bored with riling Kouga up for the time being, instead creeping back towards the throng of the eastern tribe's most beautiful women. By the way they were throwing themselves at him, it was likely that he would have them all that night.

Kouga ran a stressed and anxious hand through his rich, black locks, ruffling the already unkempt ponytail even further. It was only then that he realised that he was being watched.

He whipped around viciously, his past having taught him to remain constantly on edge, and constantly violent.

He was met with ashen eyes, as dark and powerful as the greyest of storm clouds. She parted her full lips seductively as he met her gaze, and brushed a bent finger across the moist blush of her bottom lip. Her skin was only a touch lighter than the shadows reflected on the cave walls, exotically dark and exuding confidence that only a woman of the finest calibre could even attempt to rival. She narrowed her sloping feline eyes, thick lashes fluttering as she beckoned to him with her mere presence.

Kouga allowed himself to be mesmerised, just for a second. He drank in her ample curves, her golden, flowing attire grazing the floor of the caves sensuously and her exposed midriff allowed him the slightest of glances at her taut and toned stomach. She was the epitome of an Egyptian Goddess, absolute in her furious strength and unabridged sexuality. He watched as she flicked a length of her coiled hair behind her shoulder alluringly, and called to him again wantonly, with body language alone.

He took two steps towards her, feet moving without his permission. She turned the corners of her mouth upwards just enough to be considered the smallest of smiles.

' _I don't want to spend one single night without you lying next to me…'_

Kouga retreated. As captivating as she was, and as powerfully as he wanted to go to her, he couldn't stop thoughts of Kagome encroaching into his mind. Would she be alone now, back in his chambers waiting patiently for him? Would she wonder where he was, or when he would be back? Suddenly, there was nothing more important to him than finding the answer to these questions and so he made his way through the bustling caves quickly, sparing a glance back at the woman that held the attention of most of the room. She did not spare a glance for him, pride disallowing anything other than sheer indifference.

His feet bounced off of the floor as he hurried to seek out the woman who had held his attention all day, flinging open the door to his chambers to find a cold and empty greeting awaiting him.

The room was empty.

No doubt Kagome had gone to bathe in the adjacent – _private_ – hot springs that he had expressly forbid her from using, clearly to no avail. It had been foolish of him to have expected her to sit and wait for him all night, eagerly anticipating his return like a loyal puppy. She was far too fiery for that. The soft splashing – audible to him only because of his enhanced demonic hearing – was all the confirmation that he needed to tell him that she was bathing, so he laid back on his suddenly very lonely bed and sighed in a way that resonated throughout his entire body.

Several minutes passed before she arrived again, and Kouga passed the time watching the singular candle that Kagome had lit flicker moodily in the shadowy room. When she returned, her hair was stacked high within the confines of one of her so called 'towels', body wrapped teasingly in another of the white fluffy things, her décolletage exposed and gleaming as a singular drop of moisture rolled from her neck and down through the middle of her cleavage, out of sight. In her ears were two circular objects, attached to some sort of long, smooth white rope, which connected to a rectangular object that she held idly in her hand. There was an unusual bounce to her step as she went about her business, picking up her clothes and arranging them, and she hummed a tune with which Kouga was not familiar.

He grew tired of waiting for her to notice him, and so spoke. 'Keep a guy waiting, why don't you.' He grinned, hoping good-naturedly that his presence would scare her, and she'd jump a little. He received no response however, and she continued to hum her infuriating little song.

'Hey, I'm talking to you-' just as he spoke once more, she turned around and removed her towel.

For a second, both stared at each other stunned, and then Kagome let out a shriek that ripped from deep within her throat, hoarsely and painfully. The hand that was still clutching the towel shot up to her body, covering her dignity as best as she could, as Kouga remained still, eyes blinking dumbly as if to make sense of what he had just seen.

'KOUGA!' She screeched shrilly. The piercing sound of her voice startled him out of his comatose state and he held two irritated hands up to his ears.

'What?!'

'What the HELL are you doing in here?' She cried, face growing cherry-red.

'What, in MY chambers? Why'd you take that thing off anyway, I was talking to you!'

'Wha-? I had my headphones in!' She moaned, embarrassment reverberating off of her in waves. She bent her head and wished that she had a free hand with which to cover her face, which had deepened so scarlet in colour that it looked as if she had travelled to the sun to get a suntan.

'What the fuck are headphones?' Kouga shouted, agitation at being treated with such ire when he had done nothing wrong igniting his temper.

'IT DOESN'T MATTER!' Kagome repeated the phrase that she always did whenever confronted with questions pertaining to her strange items, albeit several decibels higher than usual this time. Having the presence of mind to grab her clothes before she ran, she rushed back into the hot springs from where she had just come.

Kouga waited yet another several minutes, but upon realising that she was not going to come back out, he reluctantly followed her.

Deliberately ensuring to stay behind one of the tall rock pillars that descended from the ceiling of the cave and into the floor, he spoke.

'I really didn't see anything, you know.'

He heard Kagome sniffle pitifully. 'You looked right at me.'

'Well…yes,' he acquiesced uneasily, 'but not intentionally. And it was so fast I didn't even register what I was seeing.

Kagome paused a beat. 'You're lying.'

'I promise you I'm not.' And he meant it…sort of. In the dumb-stricken haze that he was in, he _had_ barely registered what it was that he was seeing. Well, more or less.

Not that he would tell her that, however.

'I honestly didn't see anything, Kagome. Can you come out now?' He sighed, trying his best to sound reassuring and sensitive to her feelings. After a little while he began to hear sounds of her emergence, and soon after she appeared to him, mouth scrunched up into a uneven line.

'Promise me that you absolutely didn't see anything.' She sniffled meekly, face still stained a ruby red.

'I promise.' He responded a little uneasily. He didn't enjoy lying to her particularly, but he surmised that it was definitely for the greater good.

Wordlessly she made her way back to his chambers, and flopped onto his bed as she curled a protective arm over her chest.

She looked up at him like a sullen child, and then she burst out laughing.

'Wow, you look like a complete mess.' She chuckled, taking a little bit of sinful delight from his dishevelled look.

'Huh?' Kouga responded as he sat down next to her, his mind having drifted back to the flash of pink that he had managed to catch a glimpse of.

'Your hair,' she responded, still laughing. 'It's a complete mess.'

'Oh.' He said rather uselessly. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts other than how neat and tidy his hairdo was.

'Come here. I'll fix it for you.'

 _That_ garnered his attention. 'You're not touching my hair.' He accompanied his words with a narrowing of his eyes.

'Oh, gee, sorry Susie. I didn't realise that you were such a big girl about your hair.' Kouga opened his mouth to protest, but Kagome cut him off before he could get a word out. 'In that case we'd better get you to a salon immediately. We can get our nails done together while we're at it and gossip about boys.'

Having only understood about half of what she had said (how exactly would one get their nails 'done'?) and the sentiment behind it, Kouga readied a typical sarcastic response, but the events of the day had made him tired and he did not wish to engage in a game of insults with her.

'Fine, just do it.' He sat down heavily next to her, fighting the urge to grin as she clapped her hands together childishly. Quickly, she got to work freeing his hair from his headband clumsily, and then released the rest of it from its fastening.

His long, onyx hair cascaded down his back, feminine in length, but exuding sheer and unadulterated masculinity on Kouga. Kagome yearned to run her fingertips through its length to see if it really was as soft as it looked, and when she did she was not disappointed. Kouga's scalp tingled, the nerve endings unused to his hair being free from its tight confines and he purred involuntarily as Kagome began to run her long fingernails across his head tantalisingly. Kagome giggled and Kouga abruptly quieted, embarrassed that he had made a sound at all.

'You hair's much softer than I thought it would be.' Kagome cooed gently, beginning to scoop his hair back up into a high ponytail. Abruptly, she stopped what she was doing and let his hair drop from her hands, and a second later she was dangling the undone hair fastening in front of his face.

'How am I meant to use this?' She questioned. 'Do I just tie it in a knot?'

'Pretty much,' Kouga shrugged. He was a little perplexed; was it really that difficult to put hair into a ponytail?

'Ugh, I hate that. Hold on.' She responded, throwing the hair fastening haphazardly onto the bed with no small amount of unconcealed disdain. 'Here.'

When she returned to his side, she held a thick, brown, circular object in her hand. She busied herself with gathering his hair gently again, going so far as to use her brightly coloured hairbrush to smooth and tame his unruly tresses. Swiftly, she placed the circular object around the ponytail, twisting it a few times, before sitting back and smiling at her handiwork.

'See? Much easier.' She grinned, evidently very pleased with the two or so seconds she had managed to save herself by using her own hair fastening.

'All you do is tie a knot…' Kouga shook his head in disbelief, but then began to grin along with her. She looked so pleased with herself that he didn't have the heart to disagree with her.

Her grin turned to a sudden frown. 'Why are you here?'

'I live here.' Kouga replied, still grinning goofily in an attempt to reignite her own smile.

'I know that.' His efforts were successful to a degree. 'I mean why aren't you out there with everyone else? I thought you'd be gone all night enjoying the festivities.'

'Well I did say that I wanted to sleep next to you every night. How would I be able to do that if I'm not even here?' He replied jokingly, instantly regretting it as his heartbeat ramped up a notch. He laughed shakily, kicking himself.

Kagome had a similar reaction, her face reddening almost as deeply as earlier. She simply stated: 'Oh.'

'Stuff like that isn't really my thing.' Kouga admitted reluctantly, desperate to change the conversation. Kagome latched onto the change in direction thankfully and eagerly.

'Why not? It sounds fun to me.' She replied kindly.

'Ha.' Kouga laughed bitterly. 'I never got to celebrate the lunar festival when I was a kid. I wasn't 'worthy' enough. I don't see why I should celebrate it now.' He spat the words from his mouth as if they were a particularly potent acid.

As she always did when Kouga spoke of his family, her eyes grew soft and she sought out his contact like a moth to a flame; whether this was for his sake or for her own, however, she couldn't decide.

'That's exactly why you should celebrate it now,' she responded, brushing a few fingertips over his cheek. 'Because you're not the person that you used to be. You're strong, confident and the leader of an _entire_ tribe! You deserve to celebrate that, Kouga. You've accomplished more in your life than most people could ever dream of. If that's not a good enough reason to let go and enjoy yourself for once, then I don't know what is.'

'Is that what you think I should do, then? 'Let go and enjoy myself?" He asked staring contemplatively at her as she continued to stroke his cheek tenderly.

'Sure, let your metaphorical hair down,' she grew stern, 'but not your actual hair, I just spent ages putting it up for you.'

'It took five minutes.' He responded blandly, indulging her mock outrage at this with a laugh.

'Seriously though, if you want to go back out there, then go. If you came back because of me, then don't worry, I'm fine.' After all that Kouga had told her about his awful past, Kagome thought that he more than anyone deserved to relax for once.

'Psh, please. If I wanted to join the rest of those idiots, it wouldn't be you that stopped me.' Kouga mocked, not entirely seriously.

'Oh, well then. Excuse me for trying to be nice.' Kagome replied haughtily, not entirely seriously either.

Kouga gently took a hold of her hand, plucking it out of mid-air as she went to touch his face again, and held it up to his chest.

'I'm exactly where I want to be, Kagome.'

His words stirred a slow-burning fire inside of her, its embers flickering dimly and warming her, starting from her fingertips and slowly spreading to the rest of her body. The longer he held her lingering gaze, the more intense the burn became, until her whole being was consumed with the warmth that he created. Desperate to turn it off, she did the only thing she could think of: she blew out the candle still flickering determinedly beside the bed, plunging them into darkness.

'…and you did that, because?' Kouga asked exasperatedly, eyes still functioning more than optimally even in a room so devoid of light.

'I'm…tired?' She tried, her excuse sounding unconvincing even to her own ears.

She had expected some kind of sarcastic reply, however instead Kouga merely placed a strong arm around her waist and lifted her with one arm, pulling back the covers with the other. He dropped her onto the soft mattress below, and then covered her body with the bed sheets entirely, including her head.

'Sleep then.' Was his only response as he climbed in next to her. For a few agonising seconds, they both wondered what he would do next – would he throw a casual arm around her, leaving it draped lazily across her torso until morning? Would he turn away from her and sleep apart, ensuring that their bodies never touched? Should they top and tail, perhaps?

Clearly conflicted, Kouga placed a tentative arm around her waist, unsure as to whether Kagome would reject him, and as to whether he even wanted to touch her in such a casually intimate fashion at all. The emotions that had been stirred within him throughout the day had been exhausting, and he was reluctant to do anything else to cause them to return. Still, it felt cold and wrong to not touch her, and his skin gladly soaked in the warmth of her soft body. Kagome, too, was conflicted, but was more pleased with the outcome than she would have been had he not put his arm around her at all.

'I've never slept with a woman before.' Kouga admitted suddenly, mouth moving before his brain had a chance to consider what it was saying.

'Aw, poor virgin.' Kagome retorted immediately, unable to pass up the opportunity to poke fun at his expense.

'Trust me Kagome, I'm the furthest thing away from a virgin that there could be.' As Kagome opened her mouth again, he cut her off. 'Want me to demonstrate?'

This had the desired effect of causing her to rapidly close her mouth.

'I mean that I've never actually slept in the same bed as a woman, until I met you.' He clarified hesitantly, wondering why he was even still speaking.

'Why not?'

'I never really saw the point in it. I like my own space and…' he wavered, contemplating whether to finish his train of thought, but ultimately continuing, '…I don't like people touching me.'

'How can you be 'the furthest thing away from a virgin' if you don't like people touching you?' She queried, imitating him unflatteringly.

'Sex is different. It's just two people using each other. I can deal with sex, and with fighting, but outside of that…it makes me uncomfortable.' Though Kagome couldn't see him in the utter darkness, his voice shone with truth and sincerity.

'I'm sorry,' she apologised passionately, 'I had no idea. I never would have asked to touch you hair earlier if I had known-'

'That's just it,' Kouga interjected, 'for some reason I don't mind so much when it's you.'

Kagome opted for silence, mulling over his words intently. Why her, of all people? She almost asked that question, but from the sound of Kouga's voice she doubted that he knew the answer either, and she didn't want to discourage him from revealing any further admissions.

'That's a sad way to look at sex. It doesn't have to be just two people using each other, you know.' His words made her sad; if sex was about anything, then surely it was about having a genuine connection with someone. Granted, she didn't have any particular experience in the area herself, but even she knew that much.

'That's all it's ever been for me.' Was Kouga's only response.

A few minutes ticked by, and Kagome grew restless, displeased with the sombre tone that their conversation had ended with.

'How's your stomach now?' She asked the question that had been on her mind for weeks, but that she had never quite managed to vocalise on account of the northern tribe's persistent presence.

'Fine. It's all healed.' Kouga lifted the covers to demonstrate this fact, having taken off his armour during the silence that had fallen between them.

It had indeed healed quite nicely, the only remnants of it ever having existed being a soft pink patch of skin that connoted a scar. Even though she knew Kouga could see her perfectly well, she was still thankful for the dark as the sight of his perfectly chiselled and defined stomach heated her cheeks softly.

She reached a tentative hand to trace the lines of the scar, convincing herself that her desire to touch him had nothing to do with a desire to see what the defined lines of his stomach felt like underneath her fingertips.

'And you?' Kouga questioned, a slight, yet unforgiveable shake to his voice as her hands fluttered across his skin softly. 'How're you?'

'Me?' Kagome pulled her hand back, confused.

'Your lost your memory?' He prompted gently. So far he had seen no change in her that was cause for concern during the course of his observations, but he was still anxious that her amnesia could be a foreboding sign of something more sinister to come.

'Oh!' She exclaimed with a small chuckle. 'Wow, I forgot about that. It feels so long ago now.'

Kouga nodded his head in agreement.

'I'm fine. I honestly feel exactly the same as I usually do.'

'Good. Let me know if that changes.' Kouga commanded, unwilling to take risks with her wellbeing. It was Kagome that nodded her reply this time, and they lapsed into silence once more.

They soon fell into a quick sleep after that, waking early in the morning, Kouga's arm still draped securely over her abdomen.

* * *

The day had come and gone uneventfully. The northern tribe mixed with the eastern tribe with ease, and morale was higher than it had been in a long time. Kouga decided to forego any of the normal chores for the men and women that day, as they had enough food to last them the night and he didn't want to interrupt the joyous atmosphere amongst his people. He spent most of the day oddly aloof from his tribe, partially out of his desire to avoid Gurou and his obnoxious grin, and partially because he simply didn't feel like partaking in their merriment. He found himself repeatedly slipping back into thoughts of Kagome, and as a result he couldn't resist continually checking on her during the day, traipsing back and forth to his chambers, only to be met with a chagrined look of annoyance. She was 'studying', apparently.

And then night arrived and stained the sky black, and festivities commenced for the second night in a row. He intended to excuse himself and retire rather early, until Gurou caught a hold of his forearm. Kouga gritted his teeth and fought the urge to rip his spine from his body.

'I'm surprised you're not feeding her grapes from the vine.' Gurou sneered, his breath a nauseating cocktail of alcohol and other women's mouths.

'What?' He was irritated and it showed in his voice, and in the way that he yanked his arm from Gurou's grasp.

'The little human. Considering you spend every waking second doting on her, I'm surprised you haven't scurried back to her by now. Did she get you a nice leash to go along with your dignity?' He laughed cruelly, taking an inordinate amount of enjoyment from Kouga's discomfort.

'What the fuck are you talking about?' Kouga growled gutturally, wishing to avoid a fight but needing to stand his ground in case any of his men were watching.

'The. Little. Human.' He enunciated boozily. 'Are you in love with her?' He cooed mockingly. 'Is she your soulmate?'

Unable to tolerate him any longer, Kouga grabbed him by the throat viciously and slammed him against the cave wall.

'She is nothing to me.' He hissed, fully aware that people had begun to stare.

'Oh really?' Gurou responded thickly, voice still alight with laughter at his expense. 'Because the way you follow her around like a pathetic puppy begs to differ. I do hope that she finds a suitable place to display your balls-'

Kouga threw him with a roar, directly into the nearest group of northern wolves. The time for talk was over, and he advanced upon him. Gurou rose to his feet defensively – albeit unsteadily – and bared his teeth. At the last moment before he attacked, Kouga felt two timid sets of arms enveloping his own as Hakkaku and Ginta pulled him from his prey. They reasoned with him, trying to calm their furious leader, and those from the northern tribe did the same for theirs.

' _Remember what's at stake. Remember what this is all for.'_ Kouga reminded himself, willing his temper to subside enough to allow him to think clearly. When his rage had dissipated to the extent that he felt able to look into Gurou's eyes without ripping them from his head, he met his gaze once more.

Gurou's smile was still perfectly intact. 'Don't worry men, Kouga and I were just having a bit of a misunderstanding.' He instructed his wary tribesmen. 'No hard feelings, right Kouga?' Smirking, Gurou held out a challenging hand. After several tense seconds, Kouga shook it.

He could not bring himself to remain near Gurou's presence any longer, that much he knew. Just his disgusting scent alone was enough to make him homicidal, and so he did the only thing that he could think of to distract himself; he grabbed the wild beauty from the night before, and he left.

Her personality was as untamed as her allure, and once out of the immediate vicinity of the other demons, she pulled herself free from his strong grasp.

'Men don't make a habit of pulling me wherever they want me to go, my Lord.' Kouga didn't doubt it. 'Particularly when they don't even know my name.' She spoke slowly, sensually, each syllable dripping from her passionate lips like honey.

'And what is your name?' Kouga asked distractedly, not even slightly interested.

'Aika.' She purred. She made the first move, positioning her body tantalisingly close to Kouga's. 'And you are the Lord Kouga, alpha of the eastern tribe, formerly the prince of the west.'

Overlooking being called 'Lord' for now, he brought his face dangerously close to hers. 'You know of me.'

'Any woman would be a fool not to know of a man of your…stature.' She ran a single, scorching finger from his lips and down his chest, finding his hand and beginning to lead him as if he were guest in her home.

She teased him with touches as they walked, and Kouga was desperately trying to lose himself in them. Try as he might though, he couldn't stop the sickening pound of his heart against his ribcage as he played Gurou's words over and over again. If Gurou decided to spread it around that Kouga had become fond of a human, then he would be discredited, his name tarnished amongst his pack and there would likely be some sort of attempted coup. Human-sympathisers were loathed, but those that held affections for humans were considered nothing more than dirt in wolf demon culture.

And yet he had grown to care somewhat about the girl, and that was what terrified him the most. It was the source of his white-hot fury, and the reason for prickle on the back of his neck. He had known from the day that he had taken her that she would be more trouble than she was worth, and Kouga should have listened to his instincts. He needed desperately to regain control of himself, and of his emotions. He needed to push all thoughts of the silly human girl from his mind, and he needed to regain his wolf demon pride.

Most of all however, he just needed a distraction.

And that was why, when Aika led him to the empty guest chambers where she had been situated for the duration of her stay, he allowed her to run her hands down his chest as she removed his armour. That was why he allowed her to expose her smouldering neck and shoulder to him, and why he allowed himself to taste the burnished skin.

He ripped her clothing from her body impatiently, exposing the flawless body curves that she commanded so effortlessly. He ran an impatient hand along the length of her torso and to her breasts, focussing the kind of attention on them that made her gasp in unashamed, unbridled pleasure.

Equally as impatient, she removed the rest of his furs, humming in approval as he stood before her in all his ferocious strength. This was a woman that was clearly attracted to power, and none were more absolute in theirs than Kouga was in his.

Throughout the night he ravished her body with his, thrusting into her brutally as she reached climax over and over again.

This was what he wanted, he told himself, as he watched the exquisite woman beneath him reap the benefits of his body. He ignored how desperately he had to fight to not think of Kagome, and he certainly ignored how irresponsive his own body was to possibly the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. He fought to reach his own climax, the act of trying to get even remotely worked up enough to achieve that outcome exhausting him long before the night was over for either of them.

This had been what he had needed, he told himself.

And then he told himself perhaps the biggest lie of them all: that not once did he think of Kagome.

* * *

He did not return to his chambers that night, instead waking on the very edge of the bed, his body having unconsciously removed itself from being near Aika's form during the night. Usually after a night of passion he woke feeling energised and refreshed, but today he woke feeling more tired than ever before, and unable to shake the disconcerting feeling of guilt.

His stirrings woke Aika, and though she tried to persuade him to indulge in one more sexual encounter, he shook her off with the excuse of having duties to attend to. They left for the dining cave together, separated by distance, but it was clear to everyone what had transpired between them when they entered the cave full of boisterous wolves. Some whooped, cheered and yelled words of congratulations at him, which Kouga brushed off agitatedly, fully intent on focussing on the day's tasks which needed to be fulfilled.

He glanced across the room, taking stock of the men present and compiling a list in his mind of what needed doing. His eyes swept instinctually to the far corner of the room where Kagome usually sat alone, and instantly their eyes connected.

* * *

 **I bet you thought 'OMG PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE, THEY LOVE EACH OTHER!'**

 **NO. No. Settle down, that's not how it works here. It's one step forward, and 10 million steps back in my fic. Hope you enjoyed the tamest sex scene ever btw, it made me feel awkward writing it XD I'm probably the least prudish person ever...but sex is pretty gross, amirite? Like when you really think about it, it's mostly just sticky and uncomfortable. If I do more sex scenes in the future they will be more graphic then that, but the problem that I have with writing sex scenes is that sex is gross enough in actuality, and I really don't think that me writing about someone 'spurting his hot seed deep into her womb' or whatever helps it to be less gross XD I would like to write a classy sex scene, one where hot, spurting semen is implied, but never actually mentioned.**

 **What am I even talking about? I don't know. I think what I mean is that I spent 4 hours finishing this yesterday and 3 hours tweaking it today and I'm very tired and I mostly just hope this chapter was worth the wait. Please let me know what you think, and until next time guys~**


	14. Chapter 14

***Edited and re-uploaded because I left out a couple of guest reviews!***

 **Hey guys! Hope you're all doing well - the next chapter is finally out! (Obviously).**

 **I hope that it won't be another month before chapter 15 is out, but my exams start in May and they don't finish until 2nd June, so it may only progress slowly until after then.**

 **I just want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has read the story, favourited it, and especially reviewed it for all of you support - you guys are what keep me writing every chapter and I really want to thank you all for it. To everyone that has reviewed: check your PMs!**

 **Before we get into the chapter I just want to make a quick note. I don't like giving chapter warnings because I feel like that fact that my fic is rated M is warning enough, but I would like to remind you guys that yes, my fic is rated M, and though it may have been a little tame so far (or for my tastes at least!), that doesn't mean it will always be that way. An M-rating doesn't just mean that there might be sex scenes or bad language in it, it can range an entire spectrum of disturbing and upsetting topics, and if you feel that anything that might fall under an M-rated fic might upset you, then you probably shouldn't be reading this fic at all.**

 **Just something to bear in mind when you read this chapter, and future chapters as well :)**

* * *

 **I have a few guest reviews that I can't PM, so I will reply to them here:**

 **Guest (13th March): Thank you so much for your review! I'm not sure you're gonna get exactly the reaction from Kagome you wanted/expected in this chapter but I hope you find her way of coping with things interesting to read at the very least :D I think that even though they've never confessed anything to each other she can still find _plenty_ of reasons to be mad at him...they just will all seem unreasonable since, you know, they've never confessed anything to each other. They should just kiss and get it over with, at least then she can be justifiably angry when he bangs a hottie behind her back, you know? ;)**

 **Guest (19th April): Thank you so much! I'm so so so glad you're enjoying it and that's it living up to your clearly very refined taste in literature ;) it really means a lot to me that you like the story so much that you're trying to only read little bits at a time, so I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much as the others. If you finish the story before I upload again...well you can always just re-read the entire thing and review every chapter 7 times and recommend me to all your friends and family...you know, normal stuff XD thanks again, I really appreciate it :)**

 **Reddragon09: Thank you for your review :D I hope you enjoy reading this chapter just as much as the last :) also, don't worry, I have ignored that review! I'd already addressed the fact that the story was going to be in set in a western location since I don't know enough about feudal Japan to write a semi-accurate story set in that location, so it didn't bother me anyway. Maybe if I hadn't written anything about it it would have at most spurred me to write something in the A/N section of a chapter about it, but it was just an OTT reaction to a very minor detail in the story anyway, imo :p**

 **MsAnyone: Your PMs are disabled so replying here instead :p thank you soooo much! It's really nice to have the fact that I literally sit in my life smiling and nodding having conversations with real people, all the while thinking 'how does Kagome feel about X in the last chapter' and 'will Kouga react to X in the way that everyone might expect him to, or is there something there that will make him react differently to that?' And then by the end of it I have no idea what the real-world-y person has said and I have a choice of either explaining to them that I was too busy thinking about what fictional anime characters would do in certain situations to listen to their real-world fuckery, or to just carry on smiling and nodding. I usually do the latter, and that's why I have no friends anymore. Silliness aside, thank you again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade - Chapter 14**

They had only been seven at the time, but that didn't mean that it had hurt any less.

One day he was holding her chubby little hand and giving her half of his Kit Kat, and the next he was tottering around, hand-in-hand with Reiko as she scoffed down what used to be her entire half of the Kit Kat in two seconds flat, whilst weaving a daisy necklace for him in preparation for their 'wedding'.

There had been no explanation, no apology, just a pure, childish betrayal. The other children had giggled, taunting Kagome with promises of Reiko and Takeo's impending 'wedding'. Despite her attempts to enjoy her finger painting and a well-deserved naptime, Kagome couldn't help but feel slighted. And so, the next day as the children gathered in innocent celebration, she couldn't help but to run to the 'newlyweds', ripping the daisy chain from Takeo's neck and throwing a handful of dirt straight into his face.

She remembered Reiko's shrill little tattletale scream that attracted the teacher's attention, and Takeo's wails attracted the first aid kit. She was a very naughty girl, Kagome was told, and she should never throw dirt at people. Takeo's eye had been hurt by something sharp in the dirt, and now he had to go to hospital to get it looked at, and wasn't that a horrible thing for her to have done? She recalled the teacher's words, and then her mother's, and then she recalled her favourite toy – a simple, fluffy, beige teddy bear that she had named Apple – being taken from her for a whole week, which for her was basically an eternity.

But though her punishment had stuck in her mind – as things with consequences tended to for the very young – it was the look on Takeo's face that was seared into her brain, like an Etch-a-Sketch that just wouldn't erase no matter how many times you shook it. There was surprise of course, and more than a little anxiety, but what Kagome really remembered was the guilt that had flashed across his chubby little face. Young though he was, even he understood that in some ways, Kagome had been betrayed.

The similarity of the expression on Kouga's face was uncanny. Surprise flitted across his impossibly masculine features at first, as if he didn't expect to have found her in his presence despite the fact that she was practically living in the caves now. Then came the anxiety; how would she react? Would she cry or scream, or simply continue to stare blankly at him, face an unreadable mask of nothing? And then, came the guilt. They were not promised to each other, nor had they formed any other relationship beyond the foundations of a very shaky friendship, and yet Kouga knew that in some ways, she had been betrayed.

He pulled his arm from Aika's grasp as if he had been burned. He scanned Kagome's face, letting the din of the cave melt away around him, uncaring of who may be watching and what they might think. For a brief, heart-sinking moment, Kouga thought that Kagome might cry, and then she smiled. It was a small, sad smile, but it was a smile nonetheless and as quickly as it graced her lips it disappeared, as she continued to eat the meagre portion of old-looking fruit that he presumed his tribe had served her. Taking deliberate strides to the pile of sustenance laid out on large leaves, he gathered an assortment of foods that he thought would best suit Kagome's tastes. He approached her slowly, Aika eyeing them as she refrained the urge to pout prettily at her bedfellow's sudden disregard for her.

Kouga laid the food carefully in front of Kagome, taking great care to arrange it neatly, each movement cautious and alert.

When he had finished, he lifted his eyes to hers.

'Thank you, Kouga.' She smiled quietly, having learnt to keep their conversations in front of the rest of the pack as hushed as possible.

'You're welcome.' He was being remarkably polite. Voice formal and gauging her reactions to him. 'Kagome…it isn't what it looks like.'

'What isn't?' She responded with just a hint of sweetness in her voice, the picture of calm as she chewed delicately on an apple.

Kouga cringed visibly, shoulders squirming uncomfortably at her question. Was this her punishment? Making him admit to what he had done, to relive the unsatisfying, empty night that he had spent with Aika?

'You know what I mean,' he urged agitatedly, 'with that…girl.'

'Oh, that?' Kagome exclaimed, letting out a soft laugh. 'You don't need to explain yourself to me Kouga, what you get up to in your spare time is none of my business.'

Her face matched her tone perfectly, kindly incredulous that he would even think to try and explain his actions to her. He searched her dusty cinnamon eyes, looking for anything that would betray even some small amount of upset.

They were remarkably blank, and told him nothing.

'Really?' He began uneasily. 'You're fine with it?'

'Why wouldn't I be?' She cocked her head to the side, her voice too sweet, her tone too understanding to be real, but the façade not slipping even for a second.

'I guess you wouldn't.' Kouga swallowed, the lump that had constricted his throat settling in his stomach. 'I have duties to attend to.' He finished by way of goodbye.

'Of course.' Kagome agreed, her amicability sickly sweet and nauseating.

He left hesitantly, taking a seat with some of his men (and Gurou, whom he ignored). He was far too engrossed in his own thoughts to really pay attention to anyone anyway, pondering intently as to whether Kagome really was unconcerned with what he had done, or whether her calm demeanour was some type of elaborate ruse to punish him for his transgressions.

He knew logically of course that there was nothing that he had done to deserve punishment – after all he was a grown man, leader of the eastern wolf demon tribe and an excellent lover with no ties to bind him to one particular woman – however he just couldn't shake the feeling overwhelming guilt. His shame was palpable on his skin, oozing into his pores and making his blood toxic in his veins.

What bothered him the most however, wasn't his guilt; it was the crushing feeling of knowing that Kagome might not care.

Yet, why should _he_ care that _she_ didn't care? He had no romantic feelings for the girl, and he did not think particularly highly of her opinion, nor did he seek it out often. He did not require validation from her, as he was more than confident in himself and all of his roguish charms, however suddenly he couldn't do anything _but_ care about what she thought of him.

He had assumed that she would show some sign of distress, even if it only came in the form of a single tear. He stole a longing glance at her stoic figure. Was she really the picture of serenity that she claimed to be? Was the only one affected by Kouga's actions, in fact, himself? He shook his head agitatedly. That couldn't be true. For one, fleeting, almost non-existent second when he first entered the caves he was certain that he could see it on her face.

She was hurt.

* * *

She ambled back to Kouga's room alone and melancholy, heart beating at a funeral-march tempo: impossibly slow yet heavy and with purpose.

She could see on his face that he had been confused, but Kagome was not in the mood for a half-assed apology leading to the inevitable 'I can do what I want!' rhetoric that she would likely get from Kouga.

More than anything, what Kagome wanted was to forget.

Forget the way the absurdly beautiful wolf demon had clung to him, hair mussed attractively and lips plump, lifted at the corners in silent celebration.

Forget the way that Kouga had strolled in, confident and charming as he shook off the chants and shouts of his men.

Forget the way that his hair dragged downwards messily, the ponytail that she had affixed for him the night before straining to continue to do its job.

Forget the way that thinking of his dishevelled hair made her imagine slender ebony fingers sliding into its depth, pulling and gripping it as her swollen lips breathed hotly against his neck.

Most of all, she wanted to forget how it made her feel; except this time there was no dirt around to throw and no daisy chains to rip. This time, lashing out wouldn't get her favourite toy confiscated from her and her favourite dessert taken out of the freezer, this time it would likely cause her death. All she could do now was to make Kouga go away as fast as possible, and so that's exactly what she did.

She would pretend she was fine, and that his indiscretions didn't chill her to her very core. She'd pretend that she couldn't be more nonplussed about Kouga's sexual exploits, and she'd bite down the soreness in her throat as her eyes worked hard to fill with tears despite her efforts to prevent them.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her distraught; he likely wouldn't care anyway. What was she to him in the grand scheme of things? Nothing really, when she thought about it. She was just some silly little girl that could see some silly little jewel shards, and when he grew tired of her he would likely cast her aside and go back to being the all-powerful and stoic leader that he had come to be known.

Until then, she would bite down her feelings and spend as little time with him as possible. Perhaps, if she dared, she would even request to go home, suddenly very much desperate to exit the same moment in time as him, and missing home severely.

'Gorgeous, isn't she?' An idle voice reverberated through Kagome's body, echoing around the narrow passageway that she solemnly walked.

'What?' She questioned breathlessly, startled as she whipped around to find a golden pair of eyes regarding her curiously, with hair that was deep and as alluring as the darkest of amethysts settling around her torso in a thick, straight line.

'Aika.' The name sent shivers throughout Kagome's body. 'The exceptionally gorgeous woman on Kouga's arm a little while ago. Don't tell me you've already forgotten.' She smiled knowingly, eyes narrow and probing.

'Oh…her.' Kagome spat out the word, not even wanting to acknowledge her existence. 'She's very pretty.'

'She's more than just pretty,' Katsumi teased, one hand on her hip and the other wrapped around Kagome's heart, 'she's gorgeous. And she's just Kouga's type…but you already knew that, didn't you?'

Kagome swallowed thickly, her eyes trained on Katsumi, counting the amount of times that she would like to punch her in the face, anything to stop the first burning tear from trickling down her flushed cheeks.

'I've never slept with Kouga personally,' Katsumi drawled, surveying her fingernails in a very Regina George-esque type of way, 'but I've heard he's excellent at it. I wonder exactly how many times he managed to make Aika cum last night before-'

'Why are you doing this?' Kagome whispered, Katsumi's enhanced hearing just barely picking up the sound. Her lashes weighed heavily on her eyes, the weight of her tears pulling them downwards as droplet after salty droplet fell from her eyes.

'To see.' Katsumi responded cryptically, not particularly perturbed by the sight of the crying human in front of her.

'To see what? To see me cry?' Kagome raised her voice harshly, every syllable catching pathetically in her throat.

'To see if you cared.' Katsumi breathed, smiling triumphantly when her suspicions were confirmed. 'I know about you and Kouga.'

Kagome raised her eyes in alarm, heart suddenly kick-starting into a frenzied rhythm of cacophonous beats.

'Don't worry,' Katsumi laughed, waving a nonchalant hand in front of her face, 'I'm not here to tell on you, Kagome. Believe it or not, I actually like you.'

'You _like_ … _me_?' Kagome hiccupped incredulously, voice shaking from the tears and the abrupt yet overwhelming fear that had enveloped her body.

'Of course. I haven't seen anyone irritate Kouga this much in a long time,' her voice softened, a rare moment of vulnerable sincerity shining through, 'I think you're good for him.'

Kagome was rendered speechless in stunned silence. Her brain worked frantically to decrypt Katsumi's words; she thought that Kagome was good for Kouga? Why? And why her specifically?

Was this a trick, perhaps? Did she aim to get Kagome to reveal the complex nature of her and Kouga's relationship, only to then divulge it to the rest of the pack in order to condemn Kagome to death? Did she wish to betray Kouga with that information? Perhaps she had a secret lover who yearned for his throne and was attempting to start a coup based on the wolves' collective hatred for humans?

'Let's ask the girls what they think.' Katsumi chirped happily, grabbing Kagome by the arm and sending a spark of frightened electricity along the appendage. Kagome knew from experience that when a wolf demon touched her, pain usually followed.

'Calm down.' Katsumi clucked her tongue like a chastising mother. 'I'm not gonna hurt you, Kagome. I already said I liked you, didn't I?'

'But…I'm human.' Kagome stated blankly, staring down at her arm in Katsumi's grasp, wanting more than anything to yank it free and run in the opposite direction.

'Yes, I've noticed.' Katsumi muttered sardonically, surveyed her from the corner of her eye.

'Who're the girls?' Kagome asked, resigned. There was no way that she would be able to break free of Katsumi's hold even if she wanted to, and so she had no choice but to allow herself to be whisked away to meet whoever the 'girls' were.

'The other slaves, duh.' Katsumi admonished, looking at Kagome as though she wasn't quite sure whether or not Kagome was mentally challenged. 'Not that I can really call you a slave anymore, can I?' She accompanied her words with a knowing smile.

They turned a corner, entered through a door, and all of a sudden they were in a spacious room that smelt of exquisite perfume. It was nicely decorated considering that it was a part of the wolves caves, the décor clearly holding a distinctly feminine touch. In the middle of the room, huddled into an anxious circle and alight with nervous energy, sat the human slaves from the northern tribe.

'Risa, Momo!' Kagome exclaimed, more than a little embarrassed that those were the only names that she could remember.

The two girls squeaked in response but were relaxed enough to wave, whereas the rest of the women had eyes wide as saucers as they peered up at Katsumi, clearly not wanting to be rebuked. She understood their anxiousness, however Kagome was far too excited at the prospect of seeing them again (and the prospect of a distraction from her own mind) that she enveloped them with a bone-crushing hug.

They stiffened, and the other girls gasped, and so Kagome took that as her cue to swiftly let go.

'Uh, it's good to see you again.' She offered sheepishly, a little embarrassed that she had allowed herself to get so carried away.

The two girls gave a small nod, and Risa smiled.

Katsumi parted the ring of girls with her mere presence, in a way that was not dissimilar to Kouga. Making herself comfortable, she eased herself into a sitting position as the girls on her right and left side looked frantically around the room, completely uncertain as to what they should do. They settled for scooting as far away from Katsumi so that no part of their bodies touched, and bowing their heads deferentially.

Katsumi, on the other hand, was entirely at ease. 'So. What's going on with you and Kouga?' She drawled lazily, picking at her fingernails as she spoke.

Kagome held her breath, hoping, praying, that for some strange reason she was addressing her question to one of the other girls. _'Please,'_ Kagome prayed, _'let her be talking to someone else.'_

She let out her breath, long and disappointed, when Katsumi turned her eyes up to hers in the silence, making it unequivocally clear that it was indeed Kagome to which she spoke and that she expected an answer.

'Nothing.' Kagome responded pathetically, like a sullen teenager answering their parents.

'Oh really?' Katsumi's feline eyes narrowed, pupils constricting as she toyed with her prey casually. 'Because the look on his face when he saw you this morning…I could've sworn he looked like he felt…well, guilty.'

Kagome stayed silent.

'Which is strange, because I've known Kouga almost his entire life and I've never once seen him show guilt over anything. Especially not over a human.' Her mouth cocked into a dangerous smile, ready to go in for the kill.

'How would I know how he feels?' Kagome grumbled, unable to resist the urge to talk about it. As much as she tried to distract herself from her feelings about him, she was so isolated in the caves, and she longed to have someone to discuss something, _anything_ with. 'It's not like he cares about me.'

'And what makes you say that?' Katsumi reclined slightly, withdrawing the intensity a little, a master of manipulation.

'I'm just a human.' Kagome stated obtusely, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Though she was trying her best to remain focussed on the conversation, to ensure that Katsumi did not catch her in her web and drain secrets from her like a spider would her blood, she could tell even from her peripheral vision that the rest of the girls were listening intently. Their body language had straightened, and though they didn't dare to look at either Katsumi or her subject of interrogation, their breathing was too quiet, their body too still for them to be doing anything other than listening.

'I'm aware of that,' Katsumi laughed, two sets of razor-sharp canines on full display when she did, 'but Kouga doesn't seem to mind.'

Kagome really wanted to bite her tongue, to stay silent and withholding, but her desire to find out more about Kouga and especially to find out how he felt about her was burning a hole in her chest so brightly that Kagome would do anything to dissipate the flames.

'What do you mean?' She tentatively, yet still inquisitive. Katsumi's smile widened minutely; she had her prey well and truly in her grasp.

'Well, he hasn't killed you yet. Or let anyone else kill you,' she added for good measure. 'Plus,' her smile widened yet again, grinning viciously at Kagome, 'I've never known Kouga to let _anyone_ even step foot into his chambers, not even the women he's slept with.'

Kagome let out a small, involuntary gasp. Some of the girls around her also did the same, their breath being sucked in and then being released steadily with forced control.

'How…how did you know?' Kagome asked, breaking out into a sticky-cold sweat. Kouga had iterated many times how important it was for her presence in his room, in his bed, to be kept a secret, and yet somehow Katsumi knew. Had Kouga told her? Had she spotted them one day exiting his chambers, unaware to both of them? Would she tell the other wolves? What would happen to Kagome now?

'I know things about Kouga that he doesn't even know about himself.' Katsumi responded with a wink, followed by a dismissive wave of the hand. 'Don't worry about it, I'm not gonna tell anyone. I already told you that.'

Kagome felt the urge to cry. 'You're not?' Her voice wavered a little, catching painfully in her throat. As many times as Katsumi said it, Kagome was still having difficulty believing it was true.

'Of course not. It's far more interesting having you around than it is having you dead.' She laughed gleefully, and then her face changed. 'Besides, I don't take innocent life – directly _or_ indirectly.' A rare moment of sincerity. For one brief second, Katsumi allowed Kagome to see true honesty on her face. Whether this was to give her some reassurance, to comfort her in her moment of panic or something else entirely Kagome didn't know, but either way she was grateful for it.

'I don't know what he's thinking,' Kagome sighed, finally giving in to Katsumi's thrall. 'Sometimes…he's gentle,' Kagome started, not quite willing to go so far as to say that Kouga was 'nice', 'but then other times he…'

'Has sex with a random slut and then flaunts it in your face the morning after?' Katsumi offered unhelpfully, grinning wolfishly.

Kagome's entire body cringed at her words, as if just hearing them was enough to break her. She replayed the image of Kouga, entering with the heartbreakingly beautiful wolf demoness on his arm over and over again in rapid succession, her heart squeezing tightly each time it repeated.

Katsumi raised her hands in apologetic surrender. 'Sorry. I didn't think you'd be this upset about it.'

'I'm not upset.' Kagome snapped, even as hot tears threatened to spill yet again from her tired eyes.

'Clearly.' Katsumi replied sarcastically, quirking an eyebrow. 'What do you think, girls?'

The other girls in the room jumped, not expecting to have been invited to talk, or even acknowledged at all. The silence that enveloped the room was crushing, each girl terrified of saying anything for fear of reprimand.

'Don't be shy.' Katsumi encouraged, nudging the ebony-haired girl to her right with her elbow, eliciting a startled squeak from her.

'I-' Risa began to speak timidly, almost too quiet for Kagome to hear, then snapped her mouth closed quickly, deciding against participation, but by then it was too late. Katsumi's probing eyes honed in on hers, daring her to even _try_ and remain silent.

'I…' She began again, pounding heart evident in the way her voice vibrated to a beat, 'I'm confused. Is Kagome not Lord Kouga's slave?'

'That's a good point. Kagome, explain.' Katsumi snapped her fingers as if that was all it took to make someone comply with her wishes. It probably was.

'I-no. I can't.' Kagome responded, unable to think of anything that she wanted less than to spend an afternoon talking about Kouga. Even just thinking about him made her want to curl up into a ball and cry, and if she allowed herself to do that, then she would have to admit that he had hurt her. And if she admitted that, she would inevitably begin to analyse why, her captor and the man who had repeatedly threatened her with death, had the ability to hurt her in any way other than physically at all. The answer to that question terrified Kagome more than anything, and she wanted desperately to avoid reaching it at all costs.

'Why not?' Katsumi replied, claws at the ready again to keep Kagome in line if she even so much as struggled.

'It's…a long story.' Kagome responded lamely and unconvincingly even to her own ears.

'Give us the short version.' Katsumi beamed, unrelenting.

In the end Kagome did tell the group her story – or at least some of it. She left out Kouga's tender words and their impromptu head massages, but for the most part she told them it all. In a way it was a relief to finally be able to speak about what was bothering her. She had only seen her mother once since she met Kouga, and back then she had been in no mood to talk. None of the other women here would allow her to even get close to them, and that left her with no one but herself, Kouga, and possibly Ginta and Hakkaku to talk to. She had replayed everyday since she had met Kouga in her head so many times that she couldn't bear to do so again, and she couldn't very well talk to Kouga about, well, himself. Ginta and Hakkaku were kind but…no. They were definitely not an option. That left no one, and that fact alone was enough to drive her almost to despair in her need to converse with anyone else about her problems.

Once she had finished, Katsumi, seeming pleased with herself, sat back, again asking the other girls for their opinion. This time she prefaced this with a gentle assurance that they could speak and not be punished for it. She then told them that she was not like Gurou, and had no desire to hurt them, using an expletive so offensive to describe the northern tribe's leader that it was clear that most of the girls had never even encountered the word.

This time, the ebony-haired girl that Katsumi had nudged earlier took Risa's lead, becoming brave enough to talk, albeit still excruciatingly polite. 'Excuse me, but I'm still confused. I thought that Kouga kept you as his…' she coughed and broke away from her speech, clearly uncomfortable. Katsumi continued to stare at her expectantly.

'I'm sorry,' she continued uneasily, 'but I thought that Kouga only kept you to…to bed you.'

Even Katsumi looked surprised. Turning a reproachful look her way, Katsumi questioned Kagome incredulously. 'You told them that you were Kouga's _sex slave?_ '

'I…well…I felt bad.' Kagome muttered, mortified and feeling more than a little shitty.

'You felt bad that you weren't being raped?' Katsumi retorted, clearly unimpressed with her explanation.

'Well-! A little.' Kagome admitted. 'But mostly it was because I couldn't just _tell_ everyone about me and Kouga. He told me not to and I was, you know, scared of being _murdered_ if any of the northern tribe found out.' Her embarrassment had turned to indignation, because how dare they judge her for technically lying about one of the worst things imaginable when she only did it out of fear for her own safety? Or at least that's what she told herself.

The group seemed a little more satisfied with that argument.

'It was nothing personal,' she assured the other girls sheepishly, 'but you all just kind of assumed and I didn't know what else to do so I just went along with it.'

The amount of sympathetic nods that she had garnered allowed her to relax a little, quite comfortable in the knowledge that she had earned their forgiveness, or at the very least their understanding.

With that ordeal over with, the floor was opened up again, to a very silent reception.

'Come on, none of you have anything to say?' Katsumi cried dramatically, and more than a little disappointedly.

After a few more moments, one of the more timid girls spoke for the first time since Kagome had met her. 'None of us have ever experienced anything like this before. Most of us were snatched from our villages as children and have never courted a man before.' She spoke with more than a little rage, thinly veiled behind a mask of politeness. Kagome felt the need to object when the girl referred to her and Kouga's situation as 'courting', but in light of the seriousness of her words, she surmised that it would be best to keep her silence.

A fleeting, yet present grimace of sympathy flitted across Katsumi's usually severe features momentarily, before she again affixed her mask of nonchalance.

'What about you?' She pointed at one of the older girls in the group – a mahogany-skinned woman with endearing features that emerged from behind a cloud of curly chestnut hair. 'You look old enough to be wed with three children – at least for a human. Surely you must know something about courting?' There it was, that word again, 'courting'. 'How old are you anyway?'

'I'm twenty-five.' She responded, surprisingly confident for a woman in her situation.

'Really?' Katsumi grinned wickedly, 'I'm a hundred and seven.'

'I don't know much.' The girl admitted, evidently not wanting to engage in a battle of the wills with Katsumi and instead simply choosing to speak as she wished. 'But there was…a man. Before I was taken.'

'And?' Katsumi brushed over her words of slavery, almost as if they bothered her to hear.

'He was very shy, as was I. I spent my freedom fawning after him, wishing that he would just look at me, but never being brave enough to _make_ him look at me. In the end, he married a girl who wasn't afraid to tell him how she feels.' The girl look down with such profound regret that Kagome had to look away, the sheer emotion evident on her pretty features making her tearful.

'Well, there you have it,' Katsumi stated, a little uncomfortably but trying to lighten the mood, 'you should just tell Kouga how you feel. When should we schedule the mating ceremony?'

She smiled, but not wickedly this time, just a genuine, kind smile.

Even though her words doubled the knot that currently resided in her stomach, Kagome still smiled back anyway, caught off guard with the sincerity of Katsumi's own smile. Of course, it wasn't as simple as that considering that Kagome didn't even know _what_ she felt for Kouga in the first place, and the thought of entering whatever the hell a 'mating ceremony' was made her feel queasy, but she appreciated the sentiment of being more honest with her emotions.

Thankfully, the conversation moved on after that. They then began to talk of childhood and of happier things, reminiscing cherished memories, Katsumi managing to coach at least one sentence out of each of the girls in the room. Though occasionally the conversation would trail off, leaving a melancholy circle of women who were remembering times that they would likely never be able to experience again, with loved ones they would likely never see again, their time spent together was mostly pleasant. It seemed as though everyone in the room enjoyed the conversation as it allowed them each, for a brief few hours, to escape their realities and their problems for a rare moment of companionship.

Kagome had to admit, talking and laughing with the girls had provided a good distraction from thinking about Kouga, and talking to them had made her feel better in general, anyway. As they began to disperse however, whispering about their 'duties' and their 'chores', Kagome found herself with a pressing dilemma: did she go back to Kouga's room and wait for him, even though he was the last person she wanted to see? And if she didn't, where would she go instead?

As if reading her mind, Katsumi said with a sympathetic crinkle of her eyes: 'Do you want to stay with me tonight?'

After brief contemplation, Kagome eagerly accepted. As much as she hated to admit it, spending the afternoon with Katsumi had allowed her to grow somewhat affectionate towards her. Though still intimidating and bitingly sarcastic, she could in equal measures be exceptionally kind, and was fiercely confident. Confident enough in fact that she acted as a human – or demon, in this case – buffer for Kouga. If she didn't want Kouga coming near her, then Katsumi was probably the only person in the entire world who could stop him from doing so, and that was perfect for Kagome.

'You'll have to sleep with me though,' she stated, breaking Kagome out of her reverie, 'on the floor.'

'On the floor?' Kagome cocked her head to the side like an attentive puppy, thoroughly confused.

'Yeah. Momo and Risa took my bed.' She explained.

'Took…your bed?' Kagome questioned again, uncomprehending. Had they stolen it? Just the thought of it was ludicrous, how would they even carry it?

'Yes,' Katsumi looked at her as if she might be dumb, 'they sleep in it. At night. When people sleep.'

Kagome blinked. It was almost incomprehensible to her that one of the demons here would even consider giving up their bed to a human.

'Why?'

'I'm not a monster, you know.' She replied, a little irritated. 'They probably haven't slept in a real bed since they were taken as slaves.'

Now that she thought of it, Risa was the most talkative of the group. Momo was too young to really understand what they were talking about, but even she piped up with an occasional comment of her own. They smiled more than the other girls, and their body language was more at ease too. It seemed that Katsumi had even managed to make them feel somewhat at ease.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you, I just…' Kagome trailed off, not knowing quite how to continue.

'Didn't think that there could be someone decent a cave full of idiotic wolves who only think with their dicks and are too stupid to get over their biases?' She finished for her, the brightness returning to her face.

'Something like that.' Kagome giggled along with her.

'Yeah, well, do me favour and don't lump me in with the rest of the demons here, ok? I'm much smarter than all of them.' She responded, with a wink.

* * *

'You take what you want, and you kill anything that gets in your way. That includes women.' It had been a particularly cold winter in the west, and it was a particularly frigid day.

Kouga was shivering, though he was trying hard to not show it. His father stood, towering above his still-growing form, puffs of air bellowing visibly from his mouth like clouds of smoke. In a rare moment of fatherhood, he had taken his son outside, and though he insisted that they stand in the unrelentingly freezing wind despite Kouga's lack of dress for the cold, Kouga relished the opportunity. Kouga could not remember a time that his father had spoken to him in anything other than insults, and so he embraced the cold wholeheartedly in a desperate attempt to earn his father's affection, standing steadfast even though he could no longer feel any of his toes.

'If they disobey you, then you punish them.' He spoke severely, his face peppered with scars that were a stark white in contrast to his tan face.

'Even if you love them?' Kouga questioned, doing all he could to keep the shake out of his voice. He needed to talk, to question him, to let his father know that he was listening and that he would follow every word. Then, maybe, his father would be proud.

'Love? Are you really so worthless that you'd ask me about love?' His father laughed unkindly. 'Love is for the weak; a true warrior does not 'love' anyone. You'd do well to remember that, you stupid child, before you become even more of a disappointment to me than you are already.'

And with that, abruptly, his father was gone.

* * *

He had spent the day so far in a suspended state of fluctuating agony. At times he was angry; so angry that the rage consumed him and made him want to rip the heads off of everyone around him indiscriminately. At other times, the shame consumed him, making him want to tear his own flesh from his body just so that Aika's touch would no longer taint him.

Aika, strong-willed as she was, had not been able to resist the urge to show him her occasional admiration; inching closer to him as he sat, alone in his agony, and occasionally placing two soft hands on his shoulders, bending down to a crouch behind him to whisper sweet-nothings in his ears.

Each touch, each word sent new waves of fury and guilt through him, and Kouga soon began to feel a hatred so intensely for her that his claws began to twitch each time she came near, and at one point, when she stooped down to sweep a stray few strands of hair from his face, he had to physically get up and leave her vicinity for fear of slashing her throat with his talons.

He had not seen Kagome. Not since he had looked at her, all wide-eyed and sad, sitting alone in the little hole in the wall that had become her spot in the main caves. Though one part of him desperately wanted to see her, touch her face, another equally as strong part of him recoiled in fear and guilt at the thought glimpsing the stoic emptiness in her eyes. He wasn't sure quite when he had become so attached to the little human's affections but it seemed that somewhere along the way he had, and the thought of losing them made his blood dry in his veins and his skin turn to stone.

' _Will she ever forgive me?'_ He had asked himself that question repeatedly during the day, anxiously furrowing and un-furrowing his brow as he did so. Was there even anything to forgive, or did she simply not care as she claimed? The thought of that made his ribcage feel too small for his lungs, and so he tried not to consider her lack of reaction as anything other than a façade.

He supposed when he thought about it – which was all he seemed to be able to do anyway – it would be peculiar if Kagome was upset. Though they had managed to puzzle their way into a tumultuous friendship of sorts, their relationship had never progressed passed that. Surely it should mean nothing to her for Kouga to have a sexual encounter with another woman, their relationship being platonic as it was. And yet if it did bother her, what would be the reason for this? And more perplexingly, why did it bother him? The thought of Kagome having any kinds of _romantic_ feelings for him sent an uneasy prickle along Kouga's spine. Terrifying inability to get Kagome out of his head during sex with one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen before aside, Kouga had convinced himself that he was certain that he did not reciprocate anything other platonic vibes towards the human, but if she felt something more for him…well, turning her down would be a headache.

And the thought of seeing those sad little eyes again made his whole body tighten with angst.

He was sure that people had noticed. The way that he had shrugged Aika off callously, ignored her advances and crinkled his nose in disgust at her mere scent had caused more than a few raised eyebrows and questioning glances to be sent his way from his men, and perhaps even a little offence amongst the wolves of the north. After all, he may be the alpha of the eastern tribe, but surely even he could not turn down the north's most exquisite beauty.

He could do just that, as it turned out. Another caress of the shoulder was enough to make his rage ignite, roaring at the incessant woman to leave him the fuck alone. For one solitary moment, she widened her eyes in fear, surprise, and even a little in hurt, and then she composed herself quickly and expertly, smiling her feline smile and tittering quietly about the eastern leader's famed temper being as explosive as the rumours foretold. She then retreated, and was wise enough not to return.

Judging by the way he was watching Kouga, Gurou would surely have something to say about that later.

He ran his hands through his mussed-up hair agitatedly. It was rather late, him having meandered the day away fretting and worrying about a human girl whilst his tribe celebrated around him. As each second ticked by, he found himself growing more and more deeply into a sour state of vexation. He hadn't seen Kagome once; had she even thought of him at all? And if she had, had she thought of him even a fraction as much as he had of her? Why hadn't she sought him out? Logically, he knew that this was unreasonable. Was Kagome simply expected to skip merrily into a den of hungry wolves to…do what exactly? Scold him? That wouldn't go down well; Kouga would have to punish her in some way just to save face. To cry, and lament his indiscretions then? That would be an awkward affair for everyone as Kouga would have no choice but to laugh at her tears in front of his men. Perhaps to profess her love for him, then? That was simply absurd, and Kouga quickly moved on from it.

Despite knowing that his irritability over her not having come to him was ridiculous, he still couldn't help but to feel it. He wanted her to do something; whether that was to scream, cry or otherwise he didn't care. After a day apart, he just wanted some kind of gauge as to how she was feeling.

He decided to traipse back to his chambers. Kagome couldn't have gone far, and he doubted whether she'd be off traversing the caves alone, so maybe he'd find her there. He took a step with a mixture of longing and trepidation, half of him wanting to stay exactly where he was, just so that he wouldn't have to face her reproachful eyes. But something more powerful spurred him onwards, and though his heart was beating a cacophonous rhythm in his chest – an unfamiliar and unwelcome feeling for him – he only hesitated for a second before he opened the door.

Delicate, sweet, and a more than a little unnatural; that was what she always smelled like to Kouga. There was something intensely manufactured and extremely artificial about her smell – her hair had the scent of the sweetest flower, but not like any flower he had actually ever smelt (not that he had a penchant for smelling flowers like a wistful maiden, of course). Her skin gave off a perfumed aroma, and while it was not uncommon for human (and demon) women to fragrance their skin with various herbs and sweet-smelling flowers, Kagome's scent was much more…chemical.

It didn't bother Kouga, and in fact he had grown to quite like its exotic and unfamiliar nature, however spending over a day without her had caused him to become unaccustomed to it, and when he opened the door to see her sat squarely on the floor, studying an oddly decorated rectangular item, the power of her fragrance almost caused him to choke.

Her eyes flitted upwards to catch his momentarily before she looked back down quickly, busying herself with whichever strange item held her current attention.

'Sorry,' Kouga spoke hesitantly, for some reason feeling the need to apologise for his intrusion into his own chambers, 'you smell…nice.'

He expected – and perhaps even hoped for – nothing less than a frigid and icy reception. Maybe she would make a sarcastic comment whilst refusing to meet his gaze, or maybe she wouldn't bother to respond at all, but either way he was not expecting anything pleasant.

To his surprise, she lifted her face and smiled. 'Sorry, I just sprayed some perfume. I forget how sensitive your nose is sometimes.'

Her mask was still perfectly in place it seemed, and it tormented Kouga with its apathy.

'What's that?' Kouga asked uncomfortably after several seconds had gone by in silence.

'Hm?' She queried, lifting her face again. 'Oh, you mean my book?' She lifted the rectangular object in her hand upwards.

'Book? You can read?' He asked, not bothering to hide his shock.

'Of course I can read.' Kagome huffed, clearly a little disgruntled at his surprise. 'Do you think I'm stupid?'

'No,' Kouga began sheepishly, not wanting to anger her further, 'I've just never met a human that can read before, is all. I thought in human culture that kind of education was usually saved for royalty and the rich.'

He looked pointedly at her odd garments. She didn't look rich to him.

'Oh.' Kagome started, looking considerably more uncomfortable herself now, 'well…they put quite a lot of importance on education in my village, I guess.'

Her mystical hidden village was becoming more intriguing by the day.

'Can you read?' Kagome interrupted his thoughts quickly, almost deliberately.

'Of course.' he scoffed, then added: 'But I was technically brought up as royalty myself. There aren't that many in my tribe that can read other than me.'

Kagome nodded slightly, non-vocally registering her interest. Kouga used the opportunity to take a better look at the 'book' that she held, and frowned. It looked nothing like the scrolls and leather-bound items that he had come to know as 'books'. For a start, hers was small and slim, its covering sleek and seamless. It looked light and portable; perfect for a scrawny human, he supposed.

And then there was the covering's artwork. He had never seen a book that had been illustrated on the outside before, and when he scrutinised its artwork more closely, his frown deepened. On it, in grainy black and white, was a devilish woman, eyes white and soulless with her mouth open, hands raised above her head as if poised to attack. Two deep, black wings protruded from her back in bat-like fashion, and her body was entirely unclothed.

Though he knew little about humans, what Kouga did know was that they were intensely religious, and balked at the sight of anything even remotely demonic. Moreover, they were incredibly prudish. Out of all of the pillaging of human villages that he had been involved in throughout his life, he couldn't remember a single human settlement that would've allowed its women to dress the way that Kagome did, let alone to carry around books with artistry depicting demons and nudity. His desire to visit her village intensified, curious as to what type of place could possibly produce a woman as obstinate, courageous, _idiotic_ , as Kagome. He wondered what calibre of humans would allow such material to be owned, rather than burnt on a pyre, and whether they were all as unique as Kagome.

Maybe they were, he mused. Perhaps Kagome was rather dull in her village, and maybe all women were as fiery and disobedient as she was. Kouga severely doubted that however; he couldn't imagine a place where every woman was like Kagome. Just even trying to imagine it gave him a headache.

She was looking up at him expectantly, face calm and neutral, nothing like the menagerie of emotions that Kouga was currently feeling. Her demeanour set him on edge, hard as he tried he just couldn't ascertain the legitimacy of it.

He listened for her heartbeat; it was steady.

'Kagome,' he started, his voice wavering with unease, not quite knowing where to begin.

She continued to gaze at him.

He was still standing, towering above her slender form resting against the cave wall. He decided to crouch in front of her, but that felt strange and unnatural. He opted next to situate himself beside her, almost allowing his arm to brush against hers, and then deciding against it for the time being. She chuckled slightly, bemused at his actions, and continued to read her demon-book.

She was friendly. Too friendly. Her face was the epitome of calm, and the rise and fall of her chest was perfectly synonymous with this. She would look across to him and give him a gentle smile every now and then as he sat, watching her.

After a while, it all became too much for Kouga. Never in his life had he had to work this hard to understand a woman, and never had he cared enough about one to do so, either.

'Kagome, we need to talk.'

'About what?' She asked absent-mindedly, turning a page of her devil-book.

'This morning.' As soon as the words left his mouth she bristled. It was slight and almost imperceptible, but Kouga caught it. 'Listen, I'm really sorry-'

'Don't worry about it.' She cut him off quickly, too quickly. 'What you do in your spare time is none of my business.'

'True,' he acquiesced uneasily, 'but I don't want things to be…weird between us.'

'What would possibly be 'weird' between us?' She asked, fingers rigidly turning pages, far too quickly for her to have actually read the contents of them.

'It didn't mean anything.' He wasn't sure why he said it, or why he felt the need to downplay what had happened, but the words tumbled out of his mouth faster than he could process them. 'It was just a stupid one night stand.'

'You don't need to explain yourself to me, Kouga. Let's just forget it, ok?' She flashed him a strained smile.

'But-'

'I said forget it.' She snapped harshly, and when she looked at him, her eyes were shimmering. 'What you do in your spare time is none of my business.' She reiterated the same words that she had used earlier, but with a tone of finality about her voice this time.

'I didn't mean to hurt you, Kagome.' He meant it.

'I'm not hurt.' She responded bluntly, eyes callous and unforgiving. 'I don't care what you do, or who you do it with.'

'Oh really?' Kouga retorted, chest puffing outwards as his heartbeat kicked up a notch in tempo, the day's guilt and anxiety swirling into an unrecognisable ball of anger. 'Well maybe I'll spend the night with her again; _in my own damn chambers_ this time.'

'By all means, please do,' Kagome all but snarled, her cheeks heating to a pretty red. 'Why wouldn't you want to sleep with some disease-ridden skank in your ' _own damn chambers_ '?'

'Well at least it's better than wasting anymore time with you!' Kouga yelled, suddenly and inexorably furious at the small little human in front of him, until he saw her face drop.

She took a moment to still the lip that had begun to quake ever so slightly. 'I didn't realise you felt that way. I only came back to tell you that I was going to spend the night with Katsumi, anyway. I won't _waste_ anymore of your time.'

She got up quickly, as if she were afraid that if she didn't leave soon her quickly crumbling façade would break completely.

'Wait, Kagome, I didn't mean that.' Kouga attempted to grasp onto her forearm gently, feeling more horrendously than he ever had in his entire life.

'I'm leaving.' She said bitterly, the sob in her voice only barely restrained. She wrenched her arm free of his hand, more forcefully than was necessary considering how delicately he was holding it, and all but sprinted to the door.

Kouga considered following her. He could catch her before she even put both feet outside the threshold if he wanted to, and she would not be able to leave if he restrained her, but what would be the point? He had already proven that he was the callous asshole that he had the reputation of being, both in words and actions. Though what he wanted was to grab her, to hold her and to force her to stay in his arms until she forgave him, offering up a watery smile and her some sweet words of pardon, he did not. For once, he told himself, he would do what's best for someone else instead of himself, and so he let her go.

* * *

'This is getting boring.'

Hide was lounging against a solitary rock, overlooking the bough of one the eastern cave's many waterfalls. He allowed his silver hair to splay haphazardly over one of his shoulders, falling just a few inches short of touching the ground. The sun had set splendidly, and the moon that had taken its place bathed his masculine form in a few gentle rays of light, the strands of his argent hair taking it in turns to gleam with each rise and fall of his chest.

'I thought the sacrifice was supposed to happened on the third night.' He complained childishly, accompanying it with a dramatic exhale.

'It _is_ the third night.' Ichi reminded him, drawing aimless patterns in the dirt beneath his hand as he did so.

'Exactly.' Hide straightened a little. 'Do you see any sacrifices going on anywhere around here?'

'I don't even see any humans around here,' Ichi responded, tailoring his voice to mirror Hide's ire, 'apart from that one slave we were ordered not to touch.'

'Those fucking eastern pricks better not be expecting us to sacrifice our slaves.' Hide grumbled, thoroughly incensed at the notion.

'I thought it was strange that they suddenly changed their mind about letting us bring them.' Ichi stated, glancing upwards from the ground to check that that was the response that Hide had wanted to hear. Judging by his hearty snort of agreement, it was.

'Actually, I just talked to Kouga,' the familiar low tone of their leader sent them scrambling to their feet at immediate attention. 'He's been finding adjusting to being leader of his tribe a little more trying than he originally thought, and he hadn't had a lot of time to prepare for the lunar festival's….traditions.'

'But don't worry, the sacrifice will happen tonight.' Gurou said as his grin widened, exposing a row of impossibly sharp teeth. 'And that little slave girl of his was taken for just that reason.'

'Psh,' Hide exhaled conceitedly, 'just one human for the sacrifice?'

'He said he's been busy,' Gurou shrugged as if he were simply relaying a message, 'it's better than nothing.'

'She is pretty attractive.' Ichi stated, suddenly ravenous at the thought of the brown-eyed, coal-haired beauty. 'For a human.' He added quickly.

'Kouga said have your fun.' Gurou shrugged once again. 'But don't kill her before everyone's been gathered for the ritual. After all, what's the point of having the festival if we don't adhere to tradition?'

* * *

The tear-stained trek back to Katsumi's chambers was long, and more than a little confusing. She had taken a wrong turn several times, and was now decidedly lost.

Kagome had been foolish to think that she would be able to keep her cool. She thought that if, just if, she managed to make Kouga believe that his transgressions didn't bother her, then she would be able to avoid the whole awful conversation about it entirely. But each time he would look at her, his face etched full of so much guilt, it only made her resolve crack a little bit more, until finally the dam burst open. She had managed to only cry one tear before she left Kouga's room, and for that she was thankful, but the second she closed the door shut on the source of her anguish, tears began to cascade down her sculpted cheeks like a salty waterfall.

'Well, if it isn't the little slave girl.' A voice, not even attempting to hide its berating disgust, broke her out of her melancholy reverie. In front of her was a demon with the prettiest silver hair she had ever seen. It flowed down his shoulders majestically, naturally straight and lushly thick. Kagome had to bite down the urge to reach out and touch it – she didn't have any particular desire to lose an arm that night.

'Um,' she began, fingers twisting around each other nervously, 'if you're looking for Kouga, he, well, he's not here.' She stuttered obviously; of course he wasn't here, they were the only two in the room.

'I'm not looking for Kouga.' The demon spoke lowly, deeply, as though he was toying with her, daring her to attempt to escape him.

'K-Kouga said you're not allowed to hurt me.' Kagome stated desperately, willing herself to run but her legs too numb to comply.

The demon let out an ugly laugh. 'I guess he didn't tell you about the sacrifice did he, bitch?'

'Sacrifice?' Just the sound of the word was enough to freeze her entire body, and she began to shake involuntarily.

'What, did you really think that you were safe? That you were brought to be a _slave_ to a pack of wolves with a reputation for hating humans?' He barked that ugly laugh again. 'You were nothing more than a sacrifice from the start.'

'That's not true,' Kagome whispered, her throat constricting so tightly that she could barely breath, let alone speak.

In a second he was on top of her, pushing her to the floor and pinning her lithe form to the ground. Quickly, and before she could begin screaming, he covered her mouth with a brusque hand, using the other to pin her own hands above her head, and placing his knees on the inner part of her thighs painfully, squashing the nerves agonisingly and effectively separating her legs.

Kagome stopped wiggling, but not out of choice.

The silver-haired demon lowered his face so that it was inches from hers, and sneered into her wide, wet eyes.

'I don't make a habit of fucking humans,' his words were so vile Kagome felt as though she could taste their poison on her tongue, 'but since there's nothing better in this shit-hole to do, I guess you're better than nothing.'

He released her mouth deliberately; he wanted to hear her scream.

And scream she did.

She screamed so loudly and so desperately that her voice soon gave out completely, to the point where she was only able to manage hoarse sobs. Her hands were still pinned and immobile, as were her aching legs, but with his one free hand he began to pull the fabric of her plain cami top downwards, exposing a little of her bra. Despite her hysteria, Kagome was able to register that for a moment he looked confused as he glimpsed her futuristic undergarments, but this did not deter him for long. He moved his lips along her décolletage as if to kiss the place where her collarbone and her shoulder met, but instead of placing a gentle lover's kiss upon her delicate flesh, he sank his teeth down hard, and suddenly she regained the ability to scream.

It ripped from her throat so loudly that it felt as though somebody had taken a knife and sliced through her vocal cords. Surely somebody, anybody must have heard her by now, so why was nobody coming to save her?

Was she really a sacrifice? Had her entire time spent in the eastern caves been an elaborate ruse to make her that much more terrified when they did kill her? Frantically, she pushed her mind to take her anywhere away from reality, as she tried to retain her sanity in the form of analysing her experiences in the hands of the eastern tribe scrupulously.

The more she thought of it, the more it seemed impossible. She didn't for a second put that kind of betrayal past any of the other demons in the tribe (Ginta and Hakkaku, and maybe Katsumi excluded), but Kouga would not do that to her. There were many reasons, she supposed, to conclude the opposite, particularly since it was in his very nature to cause the suffering of humans, but something deep and innate within her _knew_ that Kouga wouldn't deliberately do anything to harm her. Not anymore.

It was this blind faith that caused her to screech one singular word, as the demon on top of her moved his ministrations from her shoulder to her clothed breast:

'KOUGA!'

A stray pebble ricocheted passed her face, which was red and raw on one side as her attempts at struggling had caused it to scrape along the harsh cave floor.

Somebody was in front them, looking down upon the diminutive human girl as she sobbed, screaming out the only word that made sense to her in that moment, witnessing Hide's wolfish grin widen as he looked up to meet the eyes of the intruder, hand still gripping Kagome's breast.

'Kouga, here to join in the fun-' He started, before suddenly his body flew. A sprinkle of crimson showered Kagome's dazed and uncomprehending face, the crushing weight having been lifted mercifully from her body. Just coherent enough, she tilted her head backwards, not caring how it chafed against the stone floor as she did so, and saw Kouga.

His foot was poised in a ferocious kick, and as he began to lower it, Kagome saw his eyes. They were the deepest vermilion that she had ever seen, the colour of blood seeming liquid in the irises themselves, and Kagome half expected them to overflow and trickle down his cheeks in two macabre, crimson lines.

His fangs had seemed to have grown several inches, his lips not able to fully close over their length. Gleaming and pristine white, they hung down almost to his chin as he flexed his mouth in a guttural snarl.

Hide was noticeably confused. The force of Kouga's kick had most definitely broke his jaw, as was evident in the way that it hung oddly, favouring the left side of his face and causing his teeth to be discernibly misaligned. He staggered a little, hand gripping the side of his face in gingerly, eyes wide with horror. Had Kouga not authorised this? Was the girl not to be used as sacrifice?

The wolf gurgled, emitting a series of grotesque, wet sounds that were clearly an attempt at speech, but which were ultimately unrecognisable.

Kouga began to move forward, slowly and heavily, eyes fixated unwaveringly on his prey. Hide tried to scamper backwards quickly, eyes wild, but the blow to his jaw had clearly disorientated him and he fell backwards, landing with a light thump. He scrambled with his hands and feet trying to propel himself away from Kouga pitifully after trying unsuccessfully to stand once more. Though he had managed to put some distance between them, Kouga did not increase his pace, instead maintaining his slow, steady march, a vessel of rage with only one objective.

Kagome had managed to pull herself into a sitting position, the demon's weight on her thighs having forced all of the blood from the veins in her legs and rendering them too numb to function properly just yet. She surveyed the two demons, unable to look away no matter how much she wanted to, and as Kouga began to descend upon her attacker she found herself thinking the most hateful words that she had ever thought in her life: _'Kill him.'_

But he didn't kill him.

Instead, he brought his foot down violently on the other demon's leg, breaking it instantly, the force of his attack splintering the bone in two and rocketing one half of it through the skin of his shin.

Hide howled as the nausea began to set in, pain overtaking his ability to even see straight. Kouga repeated the process on his other leg, seemingly dissatisfied when the bone did not jut out of his skin sickeningly as it had with the other leg, and so continued to stamp down on it until a similar effect was achieved. Having successfully hobbled his prey, Kouga reached down to lift the demon up by his neck, raising him to Kouga's eye level as his feet dangled uselessly above the floor.

Kouga opened his mouth, but didn't speak – at least not a language that Kagome could understand – but Kagome got the message. The defeated demon hanging in his grasp would die, and it would be painfully. The demon seemed to have understood the message as well, as he began to howl in protest, struggling and kicking his broken legs so that they swung and crunched nauseatingly.

Kouga threw the demon to the floor once more and began to pummel him, taking sick delight in the way his face and body contorted with each blow into a more and more unrecognisable mixture of blood and gore. One particularly devastating hit impacted with his nose so hard that it was flattened completely, shards of bone shooting out onto Kouga's body to join the mural of blood that painted it, coating his torso in a way that was almost grotesquely artistic.

The one thing that Kagome was sure that she would never forget, beyond the blood and gore and viscera, was the sound that he made. The wolf screamed the screams of a man who knew he would die, and as Kouga's onslaught grew more severe his screeches began to gurgle and hiss within his throat. His cries of agony did not cease even when his throat began to collapse, and Kagome forced her two deadened arms to cover her ears in an attempt to block out the sound, to little avail.

At some point it seemed as though Kouga's extended claws had caught one of Hide's eyes, and when he finally, finally stopped his attack, towering over him as his chest panted harshly with exertion, Hide looked up at him with only one eye, the other an oozing husk of blood and optic nerves.

And Kagome thought it was over. She thought that now it would end, and Kouga would just kill him, and perhaps her ragged breaths that scratched her throat as she heaved sobs of shock and horror would dissipate, and she would be able to breathe again.

But again, it wasn't over. Kouga gripped the unrecognisable mass of pulpy blood by the - decidedly more bloody but still spectacular - silver hair and began to drag him with purpose, away from her.

Kagome followed after him as best as she could, legs failing several times and forcing her back to the ground, causing her to scrape her knee as she stumbled. She wheezed Kouga's name over and over, but his back remained turned to her. She wasn't even sure if he could hear her anyway over the sounds of his own snarling.

It became evident where Kouga was taking him as Kagome began to recognise her surroundings again: the main caves. He intended to make a show out of his death.

The sheer power of his fury alerted the wolves to his presence at first, their skin prickling with foreboding, their limbs stiff and cautious. Suddenly a bloody mush of body parts was thrown directly into the centre of the cave, wolves having to scramble to avoid being struck by it. A collective gasp was elicited from those nearest to it, who could see the full extent of the damage; the identity of the demon couldn't even be discerned, instead all that was left of him was a collection of mutilated shapes that vaguely resembled body parts.

Kouga had increased his pace now, but only slightly. The entire cave was deathly silent, as the wolves from each tribe tried to discern whether it was one of their own or not, or if he was even still alive at all. The pitiful groan that the creature made as it was lifted once more by Kouga's ruthless hands was confirmation that in fact, the poor creature was still breathing, and Ichi's horrified cry of 'Hide!' was confirmation of his status as a northern tribe member.

'Kouga!' Kagome had finally found her voice, and she ripped the name from her throat sorely, barely able to speak a single word. 'Stop.'

She saw his shoulders stiffen. He was listening to her.

'Please Kouga,' she begged, voice pleading, 'you don't have to do this.'

Though it was true that in a moment of anguish and pain Kagome had wished death upon the demon, she did not wish for the type of brutality and carnage that he had suffered. Perhaps he deserved it; the northern demons had very likely delivered similar fates to many humans and their demon brethren alike. The northern tribe were by no means nice people, and in truth they did not deserve much mercy. But Kagome wasn't able to sit back and watch such gratuitous suffering as she had seen Kouga inflict and not be sickened by it. She regretted her own thoughts of death and punishment, but more than that, she feared for Kouga.

For all his posturing and denial, she knew that he cared for her, and she knew that the only reason that he had caused such torment to the barely-breathing wolf in his grasp was because of her. And, she was finally able to admit, she cared for him too – enough that she didn't want him to execute the man that had tried to rape her, for fear of what the reality of his actions would do to him once he was able to think straight again.

'You don't have to do this,' she reiterated again, trying to keep her voice strong but failing, 'you're not a monster.'

He finally turned his head to look at her, and the handsome, terrifying man that met her gaze, eyes just as crimson as the blood that stained his body, softened a little.

And then he turned back, dug his impossibly long claws into the demon's neck, and ripped it from his shoulders.

Blood rained down upon everyone in the immediate vicinity like an unholy baptism, and the headless body dropped to Kouga's feet. Kouga took a second to hold the head, dripping with sinew and tendrils of meat from the neck, eyes cold and ruthless as he surveyed those around him.

He then dropped the head carelessly, threw back his own head and screeched in a way that resembled much more of a roar than a howl.

It was a clear warning to the northern tribe: get out.

It seemed that Kouga had been right all along. Under his rule, there would be no alliance between the north and the east.

* * *

 **God, I just love me some gratuitous violence. Don't know why, but I really enjoy writing about the suffering of others XD**

 **Anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter...and here you were thinking that it couldn't get any worse since Kouga man-whored up the last chapter :p**

 **I'm working hard on the next chapter guys, please be patient and let me know what you think of this one! Until next time guys~**


	15. Chapter 15

**Omgggg guys I'm back! So sorry for the long wait...life is very busy at the minute. I've officially graduated from university, and I'm in the middle of applying for jobs (a year in advance since getting a career in law in England is competitive af so even though I have a one year postgrad course to do still, I have to apply, one, two even three years in advance sometimes), plus we got a new puppy about a month ago, and she's actually a pain in the arse so that takes up a lot of my time too :D**

 **If you guys have been reading my updates on my profile, I mentioned a few days ago that I've been reconsidering how I upload my chapters to make sure you don't have to wait 3 months or longer again for an update. The way I currently operate is that I like to make sure that my chapters are at least 8,000 words or more per chapter, which is really a personal thing because when I read ongoing fics I always get a bit disappointed when I see an update that's quite short, and when I've posted chapters I kind of deduced that 8,000 words+ is an acceptable length. BUT it's very time consuming...it's about 21 or so pages of writing on Word...which is a lot of pages, and when I'm so busy as I have been it's a bit of a daunting task to have to write that much, and I guess lately I've been putting it off because of this self-imposed minimum word limit that I have. So I've decided to just write as much as feels natural in a chapter, and then upload it.**

 **This does mean that yes, you may be getting shorter chapters from now (or maybe not - all depends!), but it also means that when I'm stressed and super busy I won't feel like I have to bang out 25 pages in a week because I've already not uploaded for a month and you guys are waiting. I think it will take the pressure off of me a bit, and as such my goal is that from now on, you guys won't have to wait more than 3 weeks for update. I'm aiming to update every week or every 2 weeks though, and hopefully I won't have to make you wait much longer than that anymore.**

 **These chapters will be uploaded on a Thursday sometime, either early morning or at night (UK time), depending on whether the chapter's finished or not.**

 **Once again, thank you so much for the support. Despite the fact that you've all been waiting so long, I've still been getting reviews and nothing but love and excitement for the next chapter. It's really humbling that so many of you have been enjoying the story so much, and that you're willing to wait so long for chapters! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and just so you know, this one isn't much shorter than usual; just shy of 8,000 words.**

 **Hope it was worth the wait, soz if it wasn't. #awks**

 **Edit: firstly, I've decided to also revise my policy on responding to reviews, currently being that I respond to them all on the day I post an upload because otherwise I lose track of who I've responded to and who I haven't. But, since it's taken me so long to upload a chapter I feel like a dick being all like 'hey, thanks for the review...read my new chapter now and give me even MOAR reviews'. So basically, when you review, I will reply. If some of you guys get one, two or even three extra replies, that's because I forgot I replied to you already, my bad :D**

 **Secondly, didn't realise I had quite a few guest reviews! Responses below:**

 **Guest, 29th April:** haha, I feel you girl. I want to punch him all the time, and I write him. I try not to blame him too much though, firstly because he's like the puppet and I'm the puppeteer, and secondly because he's superrr emotionally-stunted like you said, so I guess for him he feels guilty coz he's done something shitty and he's like 'what is this strange feeling in my chest. Perhaps I am hungry.' Oh Kouga, you loveable, deeply abused mess, you 3 as for Kouga and jealousy over Inuyasha...we shall see ;D thanks so much for your review, I really appreciate it! If you read it, I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

 **Guest, 19th June:** thank you so much! Gurou is absolutely a big shiny bellend. Will he die? Maybe, but even if he doesn't I'm definitely gonna write out the most gruesome, fucked up death scene for him and just read it to myself sometimes to cheer me up when I've had a bad day :D thanks so much for your support, hope you like this chapter :)

 **Guest, 6th July:** thank you so much! Glad you're enjoying it, and I'll try to update in a much more timely fashion now so you don't have to wait too long :)

 **irisperson:** OMG GIRLLLL. You and me are like the same person. I never thought I'd meet anyone that would get as excited about blood and gore as I do XD and that is probably the best description of Kouga I have ever heard 'hot sexy confused mess'. Yup, mmhmm. That's pretty much him in a nutshell, isn't it :p now don't be impatient, you have to _earn_ the sex scene. Only when the sex scene has been earned through hundreds of frustrating, yet mildly arousing chapters will Kouga finally be permitted to put his penis in Kagome's 'moist sex'. That's in quotation marks because it is the phrase used to describe a vagina in every sex scene ever written, and I will absolutely use it in mine. Her sex will be the moistest sex that has ever been written. And I'll go now before I get carried away with my own fuckery yet again. Thank you though for your review and your support, hope this chapter was worth the wait :)

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 15**

'And didja see the way Kouga took his head clean off?' Toyou was a short, stout little man with more than enough burly muscle to make up for his lack of height. 'Those northern bastards had it coming.'

'I thought you said you wanted us to hold the lunar festival with the northern wolves this year?' Zenjiro stated uninterestedly, picking at his teeth. The pair were both propped idly against the stone wall, heads just about level with each other. Toyou had always been picky with the company that he chose to keep, or, to be more accurate, with the _height_ of said company.

Toyou shrugged. 'That's because I like their women. I couldn't care less about their men.'

'We have fine women.' Zenjiro snapped a little defensively, feeling unusually patriotic of his home in the east, and its calibre of women.

'Of course we do,' Toyou waved dismissively, 'but so do the northern tribe. We all need a little variety every once and a while.' He grinned the same wolfish grin that all of his kind seemed to share, and Zenjiro laughed in wicked agreement.

'Do you think the north will try to strike back?'

'Who fucking cares?' Another wolf answered for him, inserting himself into their conversation as if he was meant to be there. 'If they do, we can take them. Kouga will probably rip Gurou's head clean off as well.' They all cackled unison, delighting in the memory of Kouga's vicious – and rather impromptu – end to the lunar festival.

His wolves had taken Hide's beheading in true wolf demon fashion. There was a moment of shock, where every face in the room became drained of its blood and their eyes became more white than colour. With baited breath they had waited, unsure as to whether they would be next, having witnessed Kouga's vicious temper for themselves before. But then, their leader, filled with a burning fury so strong that it threatened to burst out from within him and lay waste to the entire cave, threw back his head and howled in vengeance and in triumph. The inhuman sound had sliced through the silence as deftly as a bird could cut through the air with its wings, and it positively shook with a clear and unmistakable warning: get out.

One by one, his pack extended their necks and echoed his threat; instinctively backing up their leader. The north had scampered, like little mice that had almost been caught stealing cheese, and Kouga's wolves had cheered, the shock and festivities forgotten to make way for an unadulterated and innate bloodlust. In an instant they had the body hoisted, each gory detail and flapping entrail on full display for the entire cave to see. It sent them into a frenzy of victorious aggression, the body being tossed and thrown as the wolves mocked their leader's latest kill. Eventually, it was decided that the head would be placed on a pike to be raised high above the ground in a defiant act of victory, and a show of their strength.

Kouga had expected some outrage, or at least a little disappointment that their festivities – and likely their alliance with the north – had been so abruptly brought to an end, however his tribe mainly ran on instinct, and their instinctual reaction to a rival tribe member's death was to celebrate it as a victory.

Kagome had been less impressed. Kouga had expected some kind of gratitude, a simple 'thank you', even, would have sufficed, but when he turned to look at her small, tear-stained face, all he saw was fear.

Her usually warm, ochre eyes were dull and dark, glistening with the last vestiges of an unshed tear. Her hands clutched at her chest so hard that the knuckles had turned a gleaming white and her chest heaved in long, deliberate pants. As soon as his eyes met hers she let out a shriek, too quiet to be heard by anyone else over the din of the manic crowd, and she stumbled backwards as if his gaze alone struck so much fear into her heart that it made her light-headed. She caught herself and remained glued to the spot for several laboured minutes, before her bruised and broken legs permitted her to walk, backing away clumsily, too afraid to even turn her back on him for a second.

And then she was gone. Disappeared in the sinuous, twisting caves until Kouga couldn't even hear her footsteps anymore.

He felt it best to leave her alone that night, unsure whether she would even feel safe enough to return to his chambers for fear that he might be there, but not wanting to drive her away with his presence if she did. He didn't sleep anyway; instead he replayed the night's events over and over in his head until his chin dripped with his own blood, his bottom lip tearing under the pressure of his fangs.

His vision blurred, and he saw her again, pressed against the ground under another man's body, screaming and crying for help. And then she had screamed his name, and he lost his last shred of self-control.

He tried to stop the memories, but even with his eyes open all he could see was Hide's gleaming silver hair brushing against Kagome's collarbone, as his fingertips brushed against her breast.

He roared, slamming his fist into the side of the cave wall with enough strength to make it crack, and his pack cheered, assuming his frustration to be a roar of triumph.

She had been so afraid of him, and the thought of it made him want to punch himself this time. He had thought that she would be happy, grateful even that he had reduced the vermin that had violated her to nothing more than a pulpy mass of viscera, but instead she had ran from him. He supposed he had forgotten in the heat of the moment how weak the human constitution was, but even if he had managed to remember he doubted whether it would have made a difference: he had wanted to kill Hide. Kouga had wanted to rip into his flesh, spurting and spraying, until his entire body was covered in the blood of his enemy. He had wanted to bathe in it, to violate Takeo's body the way that he had tried to violate Kagome, and more than anything he had wanted to literally hold Takeo's life in his hands, and look into his eyes as he ripped it away.

He had got his wish, but at a high cost indeed.

He couldn't deny that he was rattled. He had never felt such ice-cold fury as the moment that he saw Kagome, pinned to the floor beneath Hide's unrelenting weight. His muscles tightened and his breath had come out in ragged pumps, mouth moistening with the desire to taste his prey's flesh under his teeth. Because the second he saw them, that was what Takeo had become: his prey.

His mind turned to Kagome, and he itched to see her. He needed to look at her with his own eyes to reassure himself that she was all right, but more than anything he needed to see her look at him, eyes bright and playful, and to know that the demon inside of him hadn't scared her away. Loathe to admit it as he was, for the first time in his life he was truly afraid, scared that Kagome would hate him forever, but even more frightened by how little control he had of his emotions since she had come into his life.

* * *

She had just about managed to make herself look presentable. It had always been difficult to maintain a reasonable standard of beauty in the feudal era – at least by Kagome's standards – as the comforts of the 21st century were all but non-existent in a world where the poor washed themselves in rivers and streams, and the rich bathed in wooden tubs that took hours to fill and where the dirty bathwater was often shared.

Still, she thought, as she looked in the small compact mirror that she always kept handy, today she looked presentable

Her hair was twisted elegantly into a voluminous plait and her skin, naturally dewy, shimmered with youthful vigour. Her eyes appeared wide and innocent, courtesy of Kagome's latest waterproof mascara that she had managed to snag on her last, brief visit home and even her lips were just the right amount of pink so as to be alluring, but not too much so.

She packed her things back into her bag, and pulled a few strands of hair from its coif to frame her face.

'Wow, you almost look as good as me.' Kagome's shriek had almost been worth it, but the shrill sound assaulted his eardrums uncomfortably, making them ring with the aftermath of the sound.

'Sorry.' He held up his hands a little dazed, 'didn't mean to scare ya.'

'Kouga!' Kagome cried angrily, looking around for something to throw. 'You almost gave me a damn heart attack!'

'Sorry,' he laughed again, flashing her a grin that he knew she couldn't resist.

As predicted, she softened. 'For your information, I look _better_ than you. And that's on my worst day.'

'If that's what you have to tell yourself to get through the day…' he trailed off annoyingly, cocking his eyebrows like a loaded gun for effect.

'Whatever.' Kagome grumbled. 'What are you doing here? Where's Ginta and Hakkaku?'

'Just passing by.' He shrugged. 'Ginta and Hakkaku are…well, they can't be too far behind.'

'You know one day they're gonna keel over from exhaustion and you won't have anyone to follow you around and stroke your ego anymore.' Kagome teased good-naturedly. She enjoyed the playful nature of their relationship. It was never complicated or messy, and though they often made jokes at each other's expense, neither of them ever got offended.

'Sure I will. I have plenty of women who would love to follow me around and stroke my ego….among other things.' Another wolfish grin. Kagome merely rolled her eyes in unimpressed response.

'You do look beautiful today though, Kagome.' Kouga stated earnestly, switching from playful to serious in a second.

'As opposed to every other day, when I just look average?' Kagome laughed nervously, the sudden change of pace jarring her and confusing her thoughts.

Kouga simply continued to stare at her, looking into her eyes so intently it was like he was searching for her soul.

'Oh great. It's _you_ again. Don't get too near him Kagome, he might have rabies.' Ever since Kagome had taught him what rabies were, Inuyasha had delighted in referencing them as often as possible, giving his usual condescending answers when the befuddled villagers scratched their heads in confusion and asked: 'What's that?'

To Inuyasha's chagrin, however, it appeared that Kagome had familiarised Kouga with his new favourite disease as he retorted: 'Mutts can get rabies too, asshole.'

'In fact, globally dogs are the most common animals involved in the transmission of rabies.' Shippo piped up, regurgitating the Wikipedia page verbatim; Kagome hadn't been able to resist supplying him with that little nugget of information. After all, sometimes Inuyasha really needed his ego deflating a bit.

'Shut the hell up, Shippo!' He hissed, seething that he had been shown up in front of Kouga.

'Inuyasha.' Kagome shot him a warning glance. She had seen Inuyasha lose his temper with Shippo one too many times for her taste, and so nowadays she simply 'sat' him before he had the chance.

'You're pathetic.' Kouga sniffed, his patience wearing thin and his desire to rid himself of the mutt's stench growing thicker. 'Kagome. It was nice seeing you again.'

'You too, Kouga.' She meant it. As much as his and Inuyasha's constant posturing was annoying, she had to admit that she had grown fond of the wolf demon and his charms.

'Until next time.' He sped off in a brilliant whoosh of air as he always did, and true to form, just as he left Hakkaku and Ginta emerged from the clearing, faces blotchy and red and their chests on fire.

'Kouga, wait for us!' They cried out in unison after offering Kagome a weary greeting, and they too sped off, continuing the endless chase after their leader.

Kagome blinked, startled as the wind batted the tips of her free-falling hair against her arms. Had her hair suddenly come undone?

She looked up and expected to see grass and open forest, but instead she saw stone and rock.

A cave. She was in a cave.

Her heart began to pump painfully, as if straining to break free of a vice wrapped tightly around it. She was disorientated and confused. Where was she? Where were her friends?

 _Who_ were her friends?

The faster the…memory faded, the faster the names faded, too. Their faces, even the sound of their voices that were so familiar mere seconds ago began to dissolve from her mind like sand falling through a crack. Though she fought to grasp onto them, snatched at them greedily in her desire to remember, they fell from her grasp until only one name remained:

Inuyasha.

It was the same name, she thought as she absent-mindedly touched the blood dripping from her nose, that the dog demon from the human village had.

She was pretty sure the man in her memory had the same eyes as him, too.

* * *

'So,' Katsumi was less than thrilled. 'What are we supposed to do with these?'

Behind her, huddled into a sad, frightened ball was a small cluster of human women and girls: Gurou's abandoned slaves.

Kouga groaned. 'Can't we just…I don't know-'

'Eat them?' Katsumi grinned, cutting him off.

Kouga shot her a warning glance as the girls behind her visibly cringed into one another. ' _No_ , I was going to say can't we just…let them go?'

'Let them go where?' Katsumi retorted. 'Straight off a cliff edge?'

'She's right, Kouga,' Ginta spoke up, a little uncomfortable at the thought of siding against his, lately, emotionally-volatile leader. 'If we just set them loose they'll have nowhere to go. Humans can't navigate these cliffs like we can.'

'So, what do you expect me to do? It's not my fault that Gurou left them here.' Kouga responded a little agitatedly. The last thing he wanted to do was to sit around and talk about some humans that he really didn't care about. He needed to see Kagome. He just wasn't sure how to go about doing it yet.

'It's not like you gave him much of a choice.' Katsumi laughed. 'You did disembowel one of his men right in front of him.'

'No, I disembowelled him before he saw him. I only _beheaded_ him in front of Gurou.' Kouga grumbled, reluctantly taking a small amount of satisfaction from the shock and horror that he had glimpsed in the northern leader's eyes as he savagely paraded his fallen comrade in front of him.

'Oh, well, my mistake.' Katsumi was laughing again.

'Well,' Kouga sighed. His head was pounding and all he wanted was for this conversation to be over. 'Any suggestions?'

'We could just give them to the rest of the pack, they'd probably eat them.' Hakkaku spoke up just as reluctantly as Ginta.

'That would probably be the quickest way of getting rid of them.' Ginta acquiesced slowly.

'But I doubt whether Kagome would be ok with that.' Hakkaku spoke again, giving Kouga a peculiar look as he did so.

'Kagome isn't the alpha of this pack, I am.' He growled, annoyed that Hakkaku would even attempt to suggest that his actions would be beholden to the feelings of a human woman, and even more incensed that he was right. 'But, for argument's sake, what other options are we looking at here?'

'We could just take them home.' Katsumi chimed in, humming as she brushed a small insect that had perched itself on one of the human's faces away, as if they were actually companions. To Kouga's surprise, the human did not flinch or even whimper. Instead, she merely offered Katsumi a weak smile, which Katsumi returned but with much more gusto.

'And where, exactly, is home?'

'I dunno.' Katsumi shrugged. 'Why don't you ask them?'

Kouga surveyed the pathetic mass of limbs and anxiety, jaw set and stubborn. Why should he, ruler of the eastern pack, go out of his way to find out where some insignificant humans lived? Surely he should just send them on their way and never think about them again. But Hakkaku's words echoed in his mind ' _I doubt whether Kagome would be ok with that_ ', and he knew that that wouldn't be an option.

He cleared his throat, and then he cleared it again. 'Where do you live?' He asked gruffly, trying to sound as disinterested as possible.

When none of the girls answered him, he suddenly lost his patience all at once.

'Well?' He snapped, voice booming, demanding an answer.

One of them squeaked, the others gasped. Quickly, a short, tawny-haired girl let free a jumble of words in quick succession.

'I-I'm not sure, my L-Kouga,' she spoke his name hesitantly and with deep reluctance. 'I was taken from my home when I was so young, I no longer remember it anymore.'

'Great. That's useful.' He rubbed at his eyes in hopes that it would alleviate some of the pressure building behind them. 'Anyone else?'

'I was born to the south of here.' An older, more confident girl with mahogany skin and narrow eyes stated. She reminded him a little of Aika, and the mere thought of her made Kouga sick. 'In a village called Nagamachi.'

Kouga raised his eyebrows. He had heard of this village. 'Nagamachi is not a village for slaves.' He told her brusquely, gauging her reaction.

'You forget that I was not always a slave, _my Lord_ ,' she spat through clenched teeth and thinly-veiled rage. She was brave, and she even taunted him with the title that he so despised. She began to remind him of Kagome now, and the thought of _her_ made his heart pang achingly. 'I was once from a respectable family. But I was stolen, and forced into slavery by those bastards. All I want is to see my family again.' Her voice took on a softer edge, as if she was on the verge of tears.

Kouga couldn't help but feel a hint of pity for her; surprisingly, she was one of the lucky ones. She was older, and that meant that she actually remembered her village, and moreover her family were well-off. They had to be, considering she came from one of the wealthiest villages in the country, meaning that she had a family to go back to, and they had the means to take her back. The others had likely been plucked from their homes when they were not much more than children, and knew little of where they came from. They were likely from poor families, as Kouga knew from experience that these were the easiest to attack and plunder. They had less defences, and their 'houses' were often wooden shacks that were easily broken. Even if Kouga could manage to somehow find where each of these girls came from, would their families even be in a position to take them back? He knew humans, and though they grieved deeply, they quickly had more children to replace those that they had lost. Assuming they even still wanted the broken, subdued human that Kouga would bring back to them, would they even be able to take in another child who would ultimately be a drain on their likely already very limited resources?

And all of this was taking a very positive outlook by assuming that Gurou hadn't just murdered them all to begin with.

He looked at Katsumi, and he could tell that she knew exactly what he was thinking, because it was clear that she was thinking it, too. She walked over to him and pulled him to the side.

'Forgetting the fact that most of their families are probably all already dead,' he whispered, not wanting to upset them for fear of having to deal with a hysteric group of human women, 'how would we even go about finding where the hell they came from in the first place?'

'We don't.' Katsumi stated simply, equally as hushed. 'We find a village willing to take them in, and we leave them there.'

'Do you think they'll be happy with that?' Kouga asked dubiously. He could see it in their faces; many of them still had hope.

'They don't have a choice.' She stated with a tone of finality, but by the downward curve of her lip Kouga could tell that she was not happy.

'I didn't realise that you had made friends with the humans, Katsumi.' Kouga said, referring to her earlier affectionate interaction with them.

'I told you before: I have nothing against humans. It's the rest of you that seem to think that you're superior to them.' Katsumi stated accusingly, with a narrowing of her eyes.

'That's because we are.'

'Are we?' She gave the pathetic-looking group of girls with sad eyes and sadder stories a poignant look for emphasis, and then marched determinedly back to them.

'Girls. Ignore what my dear leader and his men were saying earlier.' Another accusatory look. 'We'll get you home safe. You're no longer Gurou's property and that means that you're no longer _anybody's_ property. We just need to figure out some things, and then you'll be back home safe and sound in no time.'

'You mean, you'll just set us free?' A girl asked with hedged optimism, clearly questioning Kouga's integrity more than Katsumi's.

'We don't use slaves, and you don't look particularly tasty, meaning that we don't have any use for you here. So yes…you're free to go.' Kouga answered her, a little offended that she had immediately turned to him with suspicion before anyone else.

Despite the revelation that after years of being abused and subject to the terror and torment of Gurou and his men that they would finally be let free, none of them seemed particularly jubilant.

'Well?' Kouga demanded. 'Why aren't you more happy?' He wasn't expecting tears or screams of joy, but he at least expected a smile from one human today, damn it.

'We may be free, but the rest of our sisters in the north are not.' The brown haired girl spoke again. 'They will still be Gurou's captives, forced to be his slaves until he grows tired of them.' She hissed his name in a way that only someone with true hate could.

'Oh.' Kouga stated. That's what he got for trying to please a human, he found himself thinking. No matter what you did for them, there was always one more thing that they wanted before they were happy.

'Isn't there any way you could rescue them?' One of the littlest slaves asked timidly, wringing her hands together in a sign of fear.

Kouga scoffed incredulously. 'Rescue them? And how do you suppose I do that?' He asked sardonically. 'Should I just storm into the northern caves, sacrificing countless men just to save some _humans_? Slaves, at that?'

The whole idea was laughable really, except for some reason none of them were laughing.

'But we saw how strong you are. How you…killed that other demon.' Her voice faltered, and the thought of Hide's grisly death seemed to make several of them queasy. 'Gurou was scared of you. We've never seen him scared of anybody before.'

The rest nodded in agreement.

'I can't trek through the north just to liberate some human slaves.' Kouga hissed, having had enough of such ridiculous ideas. 'Katsumi. Deal with them, I'll find someone to escort them home in the next couple of days.'

And with that, he turned to make his stormy exit.

'Wait, Kouga.' Faster than Kouga could blink, Katsumi was behind him.

'What now? I already said I'd take them home. Do you need me to fetch silk robes and slippers for them now, too?' He snapped. The thought of doing any more favours for the humans sounded about as fun as herding a group of five year olds through a field of candy, and quite frankly he wasn't in the mood to do anymore talking.

'Actually, you said you'd find someone else to take them home. You never said that you'd do it.' Katsumi retorted.

'And?'

'And that's my point. Find Kagome, and tell her that you're going to escort them personally. Invite her along, even. Maybe that will get you back in her good graces.' Katsumi gave him a quick wink, reading his mind as she often did.

'Who said I even wanted to be back in her 'good graces'?' Kouga muttered unconvincingly, planning to do just that the second he was finally left alone.

'Your face did.' She smiled, grasping his forearm uncharacteristically softly before he could leave. 'Just be gentle with her, ok? You scared her last night.'

Kouga took a moment to study Katsumi's face; her usually sardonic features were softened into gentle sincerity, and not for the first time since they had met all those years ago, Kouga found himself wondering what it was that she was thinking.

He sighed, resigned. 'I know.'

* * *

The scent of blood was overpowering at first, and if he was nervous before, suddenly Kouga was downright terrified.

'Kagome?' He entered the room so violently that the door to his chambers was almost ripped off in the process. It creaked in vehement protest, swinging on its bruised and battered hinges dramatically as Kouga strode into the room, assaulting it once more by slamming it behind him.

At first he could not see her, the room was so still. It was only after a second of semi-frantic searching that he noticed her frozen, back against the wall with nowhere to run, and eyes wild and open.

There was blood on her shirt.

'Kagome.' He said again, all hesitation gone from his body as he moved towards her with only one goal in mind. 'What happened? Are you hurt?'

His rage flared up again; had Hide hurt her worse than he had previously deduced? It made him want to reattach his severed head to his body just so that he could resurrect him and murder him all over again, but this time much more slowly.

'I…I had a nosebleed.' Kagome answered slowly, body stock-still and eyes searching for even the most imperceptible of changes in his demeanour.

'A nosebleed?' Kouga demanded a bit more forcefully than he had meant to. 'Are you all right?' He softened his voice for good measure.

'I'm fine,' she sighed, relaxing just the smallest of amounts, 'I was…never mind. I get them sometimes.'

'Do you need any help cleaning up…?' He gestured to her blood-stained clothing, unsure as to what he was implying. He realised belatedly that his actions could've been misconstrued as being more lascivious in nature than he had intended, as the only way he could help her to 'clean up' would involve her getting undressed. Thankfully, she did not seem to take it that way, and merely shook her head in a nervous waver.

'No. Thank you. I'll be fine.' She gesticulated to herself, and Kouga caught her meaning. He turned away, listening intently to sound of her undressing, analysing each little sigh that she made for any signs that she was more hurt than she was letting on. She cleared her throat and when he turned in response, he found that she had redressed her torso in a new, but equally as strange garment.

They stood in silence for several, agonising seconds, neither quite brave enough to look directly at the other.

'Look, Kagome-'

'Kouga-'

Both paused, wanting to hear the other speak first, but when Kagome did not open her mouth again, Kouga took the initiative.

'I…don't know what to say.' He admitted rather lamely. He had no idea how she was feeling, or what she was thinking or if she even wanted him here in the first place.

She considered him for a moment, finally brave enough to turn her face to his. Her own face was mostly expressionless, with a hint of something that Kouga couldn't quite place. He willed her with every fibre in his being to speak again, his traitorous heart beating harder than he would ever care to admit as he waited for her response.

'You don't have to say anything.' She eventually spoke, the sound of her voice almost bringing him to his knees with relief.

'You aren't…mad at me?' Kouga queried, desperate to have even a brief insight into how she was feeling.

She looked a little incredulous at this. 'Why would I be mad? You saved me.'

'Well, yeah, but…didn't I…I think I scared you.' He admitted, almost regretting the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Half of him truly believed that if he didn't say them out loud, then they simply wouldn't be true.

He didn't want her to be afraid of him. He didn't analyse it – he'd been doing more than enough of that since the very first day he had met Kagome – he just accepted it. He wanted her to feel safe around him, and more than that, he wanted to keep her safe, too.

'You did.' A lone admission. Kouga could feel the heat rise up along his neck and his palms began to sweat. His pride was currently taking irreparable damage, and he bit back a slew of curse words that threatened to spill from his mouth from the sheer ridiculousness of it all. He, Kouga, the alpha of the eastern wolf demon tribe, was so nervous around a small human girl that he began to sweat. Not for the first time since they had met, Kouga began to severely regret ever even bringing her to his caves; he had never been made to feel so weak by any woman before, and he despised it.

'But I'm over it. I'm not scared anymore.' Kagome stated with a small shrug of her shoulders.

'I saw the expression on your face Kagome,' Kouga was unsure as to why he was pushing the subject when she had just told him exactly what he wanted to hear, but he marched on anyway like a feckless soldier in the middle of a war that he would never be able to win. 'You were terrified of me. And now it's been barely one night and you're already over it?'

'Pretty much, yeah.' She responded, with a maddening lack of further explanation.

Kouga waited, refusing to ask another question until she explained herself.

Somewhat reluctantly, she acquiesced. 'Look. Yes, I was scared. Terrified even, just like you said. When you…when you _ripped_ that guys head off…' she paused, shuddering as she replayed the memory over again in her head. '…it scared me. I didn't even recognise you, honestly. You were covered in blood and your eyes were…' she shuddered again.

'But I had all night to think about it, and to think about what would've happened to me if you hadn't got him off me.' Kouga had had plenty of time to think about that, too, except when he thought about it he ended up demolishing a wall. 'You saved me, Kouga, and as hard as it was to watch, that… _prick_ got what he deserved. In the end, I guess I figured that I could either sit here and be afraid of you for the rest of my life, or I could see it for what it was: you protecting me from a guy who probably would've raped me-' her voice caught a little at this, '-and then doing what wolf demons do. It was a little brutal and a little gory for my tastes, but I've been here long enough now to know that when somebody fucks up as royally as he did, you guys punish it with death.'

Kouga took several moments to digest this, reeling from the fact that she seemed to have a rebound rate of less than a day before she was ready to move on to the next big thing that he screwed up. Before meeting her, he never would've thought it possible to meet a human that was so forgiving and so understanding, and even after meeting her he still struggled to believe that what she was saying was true.

'I didn't mean to scare you.' Kouga said, in perhaps what was one of the most honest statements that he had ever made in his life.

'I know.' Kagome smiled. 'That's why I'm not afraid anymore.'

'Not even a little?'

'Maybe a little,' she confessed, 'I've never seen you quite so murder-y before.'

'Murder-y?' Kouga asked, forcing a little more amusement into his voice than he felt in order to try and lighten the mood.

'Your eyes were red and your fangs were bigger than my head. Excuse me for needing a bit more than a night to get over _that_.' She quipped, seeming relieved that their conversation was starting to become a little more light-hearted.

'Bigger than your head?' Kouga actually laughed, genuinely and out loud at this. 'If they were bigger than your head, how would they have fit inside my mouth?'

Kagome made a noncommittal shrug. 'That sounds like a 'you' problem to me.'

Kouga found himself smiling yet again at her unusual vernacular, and considered what in the hell a "you" problem actually was. 'So…this is it? You're just going to forget about it?'

'Well, I wouldn't say that I'll just 'forget about it'. I mean, I'm definitely not going to piss you off anytime soon.' Kouga raised his eyebrows at this. She would have an easier time befriending Hide's rotting corpse than she would not pissing him off. 'But, I'm more adaptable than you give me credit for.'

'Apparently so.' Kouga mumbled, incredulous by how well their conversation had gone, and perturbed by how dizzyingly happy he felt now that it had.

'What happened to the rest of them?' Kagome asked a little reluctantly, as if she was averse to even admit that the northern wolves existed at all.

'Gurou ran away with his tail between his legs, and the rest of those spineless 'pricks'-' Kouga echoed Kagome's sentiment from earlier, deciding he liked the word, '-followed soon after him…which brings me to the reason I came to find you in the first place.' He explained, finding a brilliant segue into the whole 'what to do with the slaves' fiasco.

'I thought you came here to see if I was still upset?' Kagome questioned, with a childish pout of her lips.

'The second reason why I cam here, then.' Kouga held his hands up in surrender. 'Gurou left his slaves.'

'What?' Her voice grew several pitches higher. 'What are you going to do with them? Kouga, you can't just leave them, your pack will eat them or they'll fall off a cliff or-'

Kouga held a hand up as a request for silence, and surprisingly, Kagome complied.

'Nobody's eating them, nor am I going to leave them unsupervised long enough for them to wander off of a giant cliff edge. We're taking them home.'

'You know where they live?' Kagome asked, positively beaming. All irritated thoughts of just leaving them in a forest somewhere to fend for themselves vanished in an instant when Kagome's big, doe eyes fell on him with such excitement and joy. There was no way he was leaving somebody else to escort them now, not if doing it himself would mean that she'd look at him like that again.

'Not exactly, but we're hoping that we'll be able to at least find a village to take them in.' He explained, hoping that it wouldn't dim her excitement too much.

'You should at least try to find where they originally came from, before you find somewhere else for them to go. Their families must be worried sick about them.' Her compassion was charming, and Kouga didn't have the heart to tell her that most of their families were likely just a bunch of half-eaten skeletons by now.

'I'll do my best, but it would be easier if I had a human to come along who could, you know, talk to the other humans.' Kouga suggested, hoping that his hinting was blatant enough for Kagome to catch so that he didn't have to spell the entire thing out for her.

'You can't talk to them yourself?' She asked, eyeing him accusatorily as if the reason why he didn't want to do the talking was simply because he didn't want to converse with other humans.

'Not successfully.' He responded pointedly.

Kagome blinked. 'Oh, right. For a second there I forgot you're like a seven-foot devil-creature with huge fangs. I think I'm getting too used to being around you.' Kagome looked less than pleased at this revelation.

Skirting around the fact that she had just referred to him as a 'devil-creature', Kouga began to explain 'Operation: Get Rid of All the Slaves' to Kagome.

'The sooner we can get them out of here the better – for their sakes,' Kouga added to placate Kagome's disapproving stare, 'so I want to leave with them tomorrow. I suppose the most efficient thing to do would be to ask around the nearby villages, but since they were likely kidnapped in, or at least near the northern tribe's territory, I doubt whether we'll find any answers around here.'

'So we have to go back to the north?' Kagome shuddered, and not just because she was remembering how cold it had been.

'Kagome,' Kouga started in what he hoped was a gentle tone. 'I can't just leave the pack to search for days, maybe even weeks in the north for the villages that they all came from. My pack needs me, and as happy as they are to fight, they can't strategize for shit. If the tribe comes under attack while I'm gone – especially now that I pissed off Gurou and his tribe – they'll be dead, and I can't take that risk. If the villages around here don't know anything about them, then all I can do is to try and find somewhere else that they can go, and even that might take too long.'

'I understand.' She stated, voice a little downbeat.

'You do?' Kouga asked in surprise.

Kagome nodded. 'It sucks, but I understand. You're their leader, and you have to put your pack first. I get it.'

'Ok, then.' Kouga began, a little uneasy by how simple their very complex conversations had been going today. 'We'll leave tomorrow, you talk to the villagers and we'll find them a home.'

'Not to sound like I don't want to go, because I do, but do you really think it's necessary to bring me along? I understand that it's probably not the best idea for you to talk to the villagers, but you have like, ten other humans around that can do it for you.'

'Um, I think it's best that the villagers talk to someone a little less…slave-y.' He responded. He very much doubted whether the humans in the villages, fickle as humans tended to be, would respond well to being asked by a group of girls that were clearly slaves, if they would provide a home for them. Strange-looking as she was, at least Kagome could explain it away by saying that she came from a very rich, very far away village with questionable allowances for how they dressed their women, and pretend that she was someone of at least somewhat importance.

'Kouga, that's not nice.' Kagome chastised, slightly offended on the other girls' behalves.

'It's true. Some of them look like they've never bathed in their lives.' Kouga reasoned.

'That's not their fault, Kouga.'

'I know that, but it doesn't change the fact that nobody's going to be very impressed if I, a terrifying demon, present a group of unwashed girls with no shoes to the head of a village and ask them to take them in.'

'Fine. I get your point. It's probably better off if I do go anyway, so that I can make sure you actually take them somewhere they can live, rather than just dumping them in a forest and leaving.' Kagome stated sceptically, clearly still unconvinced that he would actually follow through on his words.

'Would I do that?' Kouga grinned his typical wolfish grin.

Kagome opened her mouth as if to say 'yes', and then smiled, changing her mind. 'We'll see.'

* * *

Kouga slipped out the next morning wordlessly, with strict orders left to Hakkaku and Ginta to tell the rest of the pack, if they should ask, that Kouga had left to 'deal with' the forgotten human slaves. Whatever his pack inferred from that was up to them, and it saved him the headache of having to explain, yet again, exactly why he was going so far to help a bunch of pitiful humans. He couldn't even fully explain it himself, other than that he enjoyed the way it made Kagome smile when he did, and so he doubted he'd be able to offer up any kind of explanation that they'd accept in the first place.

And so, with Kagome and a group of rag-adorned human women in tow, Kouga began the long and arduous task of individually carrying all of the women down the steep, unrelenting cliffs surrounding his territory. It had taken some time before he had carried the final girl down, and when he mercifully reached the bottom of the cliffs for the last time he noticed that Kagome was rubbing her shoulder unhappily.

'You ok?' Kagome jumped at the sound of authority in his voice, Kouga having forgotten to tone it down now that he was no longer addressing the slaves. His voice tended to take a rougher tone when he was talking to anyone else other than Kagome, and it appeared that they were both rather unused to hearing him address her in that way as they were both suitably stunned for a moment when he did.

'I'm fine.' She reassured him unconvincingly.

'Let me see.' He motioned towards her with the intention of pulling her shirt down over her shoulder to create a better view of the bite wound that Kouga could not see, but knew that Hide had left on her porcelain skin.

'I said I'm fine.' There was a hint of urgency in her voice that made Kouga drop it, albeit reluctantly.

'If anything's bothering you, let me know. We can stop.' He responded, agitated that she would prevent him from seeing to her wounds.

'I will.' She replied with a grateful smile that reminded him exactly why he was going through all this trouble to rehome the little slaves gathered around him in the first place.

He had had a troubled night, and for the second time in a row, he hadn't slept. He was unnerved by how easily Kagome had begun to trust him again, his past experiences in life making him naturally suspicious of everything, but especially of situations like these that were far too easily earned. Was it possible that she really had 'gotten over it' like she said, just like that? Kouga had always been an excellent judge of character and he saw no reason to distrust her, however, it all just felt too easy.

What concerned him more, however, was his utter relief. The extent and severity of his happiness was giddying, and it disturbed him that Kagome had that much control over his emotions. With a mere sentence she had the ability to break him, or to build him back up. For his entire life, Kouga had only survived by creating an impenetrable wall between himself and anyone else stupid enough to try and climb it. He had hid his insecurities behind a mask of violence for so long, that one day he had found that he wasn't able to take the mask back off. Over time, he had become the ruthless, cold, unfeeling and calculating leader that he had painstakingly cultivated his reputation to be, and he suddenly found himself in a position where the proverbial bandage had been ripped off, and he was forced to watch himself bleed.

That had been Kagome's fault. He had known that she was more trouble than she was worth since the day that he had taken her, but somehow he couldn't fight the urge to keep her with him anyway. Since being at his caves she had done almost nothing for him, having only found one measly jewel shard in her entire time there, and in addition to that she consistently refused to follow his orders, which enraged him frequently. It was strange to him then, that somehow he still found the idea of parting with her too difficult to even begin to consider.

She made him laugh, and she made him furious. She was surprising in ways that he had never anticipated a human could be, and she had a heart that was endlessly compassionate. He had grown to admire these things about her, enjoy them even, to the point where he became saddened whenever she was upset. This was an unfamiliar feeling to Kouga, and not one that he particularly enjoyed.

They trudged along the forest floor at a slower pace than Kouga was used to in silence, and from the corner of his vision he could see that Kagome was eyeing him worriedly. He ignored it. His mind was consumed with all of the emotions that she had forced him to feel, haunting his consciousness even though he had been convinced for a long time that he had buried them deeper than could ever be resurfaced.

He was attached to the little human in some way or another, he finally admitted. Hide's attack on her had confirmed that irrevocably and without a doubt. The pain and fury that he had felt when he saw Kagome writhing and screaming beneath Hide's body reverberated in the deepest and most animalistic parts of him, even now, and he made a vow in that moment along that beaten forest floor, that he would never let anyone harm Kagome the way that Hide had ever again.

And God help anyone who tried to make him break that promise.

* * *

 **And that's this chapter done! I know it might have been less thrilling than the last chapter, but I guess when you have a chapter that is high on action and drama you need a chapter after it that just deals with the characters processing what they've seen/done.**

 **What are you guys' theories for why Kagome got over all Kouga's murder-y-ness so quickly? :D I have my own ideas (which is a relief, since I'm writing the damn thing), but I'm curious as to what you guys think...;)**

 **Hope you're all looking forward to the next chapter, hopefully it won't take anywhere near as long as this one to get up!**

 **Until next time guys~**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! So I've actually managed to get the next chapter up mostly on time :p I like to upload it midnight Thursday, but it's almost midnight Friday in England because our new puppy has been really ill since Monday and we've spent the last few days taking her to the vets. We had to take her to the emergency vets last night which was...expensive :'( anyway I haven't had time to proof read it as thoroughly as I usually do so sorry if there are more typos/a less fluid narrative than usual. I usually write the chapter in its entirety before I edit anything, and then I read it 10 million times, fix typos and rewrite the parts that don't flow as well as I'd like them too. I've only read the chapter twice this time, so it's had considerably less fine-tuning. Hopefully it's fine for the most part though :)**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter, please let me know what you think :)**

 **Thank you to my guest reviewer also! My response is below:**

 **Y0:** hmm what and interesting theory ;) I guess time will tell as to whether you're right or not ;) isn't the slow build up just torture haha?! But it's literally my fave thing in the world when a story is interesting and sooooo slow and it takes forever to get to the best bits BUT WHEN IT DOES! It's just the best :') Also though, you said 'set it free'...set what free? XD so glad you're really enjoying the story and that even if I take another 10 years to write it you'll still be here, waving your flag like 'I'm sure she'll finish it soon, I'm in it for the long haul' :p I really appreciate it! I also find it pretty cool when you meet someone that is so far away but likes the same things that you do...it's like do I need to move halfway across the world to find my bestie soulmate or...? :p Anyway before I ramble too much more, thank you so much for your review! I really do appreciate the support and feedback and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far :)

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 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 16**

Somehow, finding the slaves a home was an easier – though just as irritating – task than Kouga had imagined.

On Kagome's insistence they had aimlessly wandered through several villages, pointing the little slaves at the various inhabitants and playing a game of 'Guess Who?' with them. As Kouga had predicted, all of their efforts had been fruitless.

They knew that one of the slaves lived in Nagamachi (Kagome identified her as 'Miku', but Kouga continued to refer to her as Slave #4 in his mind…and sometimes out loud), and so it was decided that they would travel to her village next. Kouga fully supported this plan, as he silently hoped that Nagamachi, it being the pinnacle of wealth and human greed that it was, would take pity on the remaining slave girls and provide them with a home which their beloved – and finally returned – daughter would no doubt insist upon. Then Kouga would be rid of them all in one go, and he could finally get back to doing what he had been neglecting to do properly for quite some time now: leading his pack.

Kouga had barely stepped a toe over the threshold of the village's terrain before an arrow hit him square in the chest. His armour deflected it easily and so he made a conscious effort for Kagome's sake to restrain from embarking on a murderous rampage, his resolve swiftly crumbling when a second arrow was fired and pierced the softer part of his flesh just below his shoulder.

After that, he was considerably more pissed off.

He bared his teeth and used his superior eyesight to pick out the soldiers, who likely believed that their hiding place atop a particularly sturdy tree branch was ingenious and expertly covert. Sadly for them it was not, and Kouga had already braced himself to jump, fully intending to yank the arrow out of his arm and murder them both with it.

Kagome stopped him however, as she always did, with an urgent hiss of his name and raised her hands imploringly to the sky in surrender.

She had proven herself to be quite skilled at diplomacy during their little expedition. Initially, the villagers had been thoroughly unimpressed by her state of dress – or lack thereof – but Kagome had taken Kouga's suggestion of pretending that she was a noblewoman of a strange and far away human village and ran with it. Of course, all the humans had needed to hear was the word 'wealthy', and they practically kissed her feet in their fervour to accommodate her, no doubt hoping that they would be able to acquire some of her 'wealth' for themselves.

It was surprising to Kouga at first that they all fell so easily for this ruse, however when he really took a moment to regard Kagome unbiased and objectively, he supposed that it wasn't so ridiculous for them to believe that her strange clothing could be a sign of wealth. What gave her the most credibility, however, was her cleanliness; she was pristine all over with hair that did not want for lustre and shine and clothes that, albeit different, were a product of expert tailoring. Moreover, she was enveloped by a floral scent that was at times overpowering, but Kouga supposed that it was a fragrance that was fit for the wealthy.

Kouga began to wonder if perhaps Kagome actually was from a rich family. It would be no small task to magically enchant a well to hide an entire village, and any priestess or witch that was powerful enough to perform such a spell would no doubt demand considerable recompense for their efforts. Kagome had always been very cagey about where she came from, and perhaps, he reasoned, this was because she was hiding some kind of vast wealth. Kouga made a mental note to consider asking her about this, though if she was keeping it from him he doubted whether she would answer him truthfully, anyway.

Somehow, after a few minutes of talk and explanations, Kagome had managed to convince the humans to put away their trigger-happy fingers and holster their bow and arrows. Somehow, Kagome had also managed to convince Kouga not to massacre everybody in the village, too.

Much of the endless chatter had been lost to Kouga, as he found himself concentrating more on the dull ache that resonated in his shoulder. Kagome had insisted that the arrow should remain lodged firmly in his flesh for the entire duration of their visit to Nagamachi, much to Kouga's ire. He was convinced that the wound would've been blissfully numb and practically healed had he been allowed to just pull the damn thing out like he had wanted.

But Kagome wanted to do it 'safely'. It needed to be removed with caution and care, and the wound sterilised. Kouga might even bleed out or damage a muscle if he pulled it out too vigorously, she had reasoned. Kouga had attempted to argue back that he didn't need to worry about any of that because he was a demon and his super-fast healing made him an unstoppable killing machine, but Kagome was less than enthused with his response.

And to make matters worse, she kicked him every time he picked at it.

What Kouga had managed to glean, however, was that Slave #4's family were indeed still alive, and were very eager to have her back. There was a long, drawn out and ultimately excessive display of emotions upon their reunion, although Kouga had to admit that he did soften a little at the sight of pure happiness on Kagome's face as she watched Slave #4 collapse into her portly parents' arms.

By this point, Kouga was bored of the whole tedious affair, and cleared his throat to cut through the agitating blubbering of the humans. Kagome didn't seem to appreciate it when Kouga suggested that the village just take in the rest of the slaves, too, whispering something about 'having tact', and neither did the villagers if the sudden intake of breath and raising of their swords and spears was any indication.

One particularly brave little insect, no doubt under the assumption that Kouga was weakened by the tiny little piece of wood sticking out of his arm, decided that he would really put Kouga in his place by jabbing him with the sharp end of his spear.

Kouga's first instinct had been to chew through the human male's neck with his teeth, and then parade his severed head around on the very spear that he had prodded him with, however if he did that then Kouga very much doubted whether the village would be amenable to taking the other slaves in, and Kouga also had no doubt that Kagome would force him to wander around with them until they found somewhere else more suitable for their rehoming. And so instead, he settled for merely turning to face the human, who stood a good foot shorter than him, and flashed the widest, most terrifying grin that the pathetic man had ever seen. It achieved its intended effect, as the human dropped the spear in terror and thrashed his way through the throng of 'guards', all of whom were no doubt tasked with ensuring that Kouga didn't step out of line. The human would likely be removed from his position as a fellow guard, disgraced by his own cowardice and Kagome only gave Kouga a mildly disapproving stare, so all in all Kouga considered his handling of the situation to have been a success.

The humans had to talk for a while. They were determined to make it seem as though their decision was a difficult one, but Kouga could see right through them. He could see it in the way that their eyes grew tender at the sound of their newly reunited daughter's pleas, and the way they observed the raggedy-looking girls with pity. Plus, as it turned out, Slave #4's parents were the heads of the village, putting her in a very prestigious position indeed.

'We shall take them in.' The fat male had declared, pointedly refusing to look at Kouga as he spoke. 'They will find a home here in Nagamachi.'

Kagome let out a breath that she hadn't realised she had been holding, whilst Kouga let out a snort. Of course they would take them in; what kind of heartless bastards would deny the only request of a daughter who had been lost to them for years?

This hadn't gone down as well with the other slaves as Kouga had hoped, however. Many of them were still unwavering in their desire to find their own families, and wished to leave in search of them instead.

Kagome shot Kouga remorseful look that he attempted to return convincingly, before she began to explain to them in the type of comforting way that Kouga never would have been able to achieve, that their parents were likely dead, and that staying here would be the best thing for them. There were more tears then, and Kouga once again attempted his very best sad expression, which must have been somewhat convincing as Kagome had squeezed his arm reassuringly after glancing towards his face.

Eventually, she settled on a compromise with the girls that Kouga was not willing to keep, but no doubt would be coerced into fulfilling. It was decided that the girls would stay here for now, and after a few weeks had passed, Kagome would return and they would all search for their parents together. If they found their parents with their blood still inside their body, then fantastic, the little slaves could run along into the sunset with them. If not, then they would return to Nagamachi.

They seemed satisfied at this, and Kouga sighed lightly at the burden. He sighed even harder however, when the tawny-haired slave (whom Kouga had renamed 'Freckles' on account of the smattering of lightly-coloured freckles across her face and nose) decided that she didn't want to live in the luxury of silk sheets and fine wine that Nagamachi would likely offer them, and instead wanted to return to the caves and sleep on rocks. Humans really were deeply irritating – and perplexing – creatures.

'But Risa,' Kagome had started worriedly, 'you can have a life here. If you come back with us, you'll just be treated as a slave again.'

Freckles vigorously shook her head. 'I don't want a life here, not until I find my family. Dead or alive, I won't be able to rest until I know what happened to them.'

'But I told you that I'd help you look for them. Why would you want to spend your time in a wolf den when you could be here, surrounded by people who will take care of you, and won't treat you like you're nothing?' Kagome flashed a censured glance at Kouga, to which Kouga responded by shrugging his shoulders. It wasn't _his_ fault that wolf demons didn't like humans, that was just how it was.

'Because, you've been so kind to me Kagome, and I don't want you to have to go back there all alone.' Freckles answered with one of those sickeningly sweet smiles that humans tended to plaster onto their face when they offered up selflessness and self-sacrifice to one another.

'I still don't understand why you would want to…' Kagome trailed off, clearly a little worried for Freckles' wellbeing.

'You haven't gotten anyone to talk to back in those caves, have you? If you're going to come back for us eventually anyway, the least I can do is keep you company until you do.'

'And what, exactly, am I meant to tell my pack? I told them I'd get rid of you.' Kagome nudged him in a way that Kouga presumed she thought was hard, clearly finding his choice of words distasteful.

Kouga did not want to bring another slave back, Kagome did not want to bring another slave back – albeit for different and perhaps more admirable reasons than him – and yet somehow that's exactly what they ended up doing. As Kouga traipsed forlornly, and Kagome and Freckles skipped happily from the village, he pondered to himself how the day had managed to go so spectacularly wrong and so surprisingly right in equal measures. He now had yet another slave to deal with, another mouth to feed and another human to tolerate, but he had managed to get rid of the rest. Still, he could only imagine what his pack's reaction would be when he strolled into his caves, two human women in tow and told them that although he had promised to rid them of all northern slaves, actually he had decided to keep one and, more importantly, he wasn't keeping her for dinner.

Kouga could already feel the beginnings of a headache emerging, and his shoulder began to ache more severely than before.

They had parted ways with the village and its ridiculous 'guards' with talks of returning and of making provisional arrangements for Kouga to accompany her, provided he stayed on his best behaviour. He bit back a snarl at that comment; he doubted whether they would consider him well-behaved when he tore off their arms and beat them to death with them.

Once they were free from the stench of the humans, Kagome finally sought fit to go about removing the pieces of wood and steel from the inside of Kouga's body.

'It's wedged in pretty deep.' She stated, biting her lip anxiously in a way that Kouga couldn't help but to find endearing. 'I'm worried about damaging anything internally.'

'Don't be.' Kouga responded, flexing his arm in an ill-advised show of wellbeing and then hiding the subsequent pain like a pro. 'I'm a demon. I'll heal.'

'If I rip out a muscle you won't. Not quickly, at least.'

Kouga flashed his trademark cocky grin. 'Challenge accepted.'

Rather than choosing to entertain his silliness, Kagome merely rolled her eyes in exasperation at him. After getting out her 'first aid kit' and arranging an assortment of bandages and ointments to her liking, she placed a tentative hand around the length of the arrow that was left sticking out of his skin.

'Brace yourself, because this probably gonna hurt.' She said a little nervously, lip still caught between her teeth.

'I pulled a cat demon's claw out of my _eyeball_ , once.' Kouga responded with a smirk, but damned if it didn't sting.

His sense of pride was the only thing that kept his cocky little grin affixed to his face, as Kagome stiffened her fist and pulled it from his flesh as carefully – and quickly – as she could.

She then applied a wad of gauze expertly to the newly vacated wound that only trickled with blood, some of it likely having begun to heal whilst the arrow was still inside of him. She instructed him to raise his arm up, which he did begrudgingly, and once satisfied that he was not on the verge of bleeding to death, Kagome placed a bandage around his shoulder and arm to keep the gauze in place. This annoyed Kouga, as the smell was sharp and astringent, and prickled at his nose every time he breathed in. It seemed to please Kagome, however, and so he refrained from complaining.

'Did that really not hurt you at all?' An awe-struck voice chimed softly. A barb of aggravation travelled its way up his spine as he turned to face the owner of said voice, having forgotten for a few blissful moments that he had acquired an extra human to look after.

'Of course it didn't.' He answered her rather abruptly, and not particularly kindly. 'Are you trying to suggest that I'm so weak as to be injured by a flimsy piece of wood and metal?'

'No!' Freckles stammered, all previous interest and awe removed from her face. 'I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you.'

'I may have permitted you to return with us, but don't for a second think that I won't kill you if you so much as step one foot out of line.' He snarled, feeling particularly sour that he had to tolerate another human for an even more extended period of time. He could tolerate Kagome, he had come to conclude, but old prejudices were hard to eliminate, and if he was honest with himself he could barely endure more than a couple of hours with his own kind so his threshold for indulging in conversations with humans was remarkably low.

The girl balked, having let her guard down and been punished for it. Kouga watched as she physically shut down, his threat snapping her back to a primal place of self-preservation.

'I'm sorry.' She bowed her head respectfully and crossed her hands in front of one another, trying to look as diminutive as possible.

'Risa, I noticed some berries a little further back, would you mind collecting some for me? I'm kinda hungry and we're probably going to need to stockpile some food for later anyway.' Kagome smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder. Even though Kagome's touch was gentle, the contact was enough to cause Risa to jerk violently.

'Oh, yes, of course.' And with that she set off to dutifully obey.

Kouga had to admit that he felt a little bad. He hadn't meant to make her fear him quite like that, and he supposed that the source of his frustration wasn't entirely down to her. It had been difficult constantly battling with his men about Kagome's usefulness in the tribe, and even more so constantly battling with his own, confusing feelings about her. The lunar festival had been a pain right from the start, and though he didn't regret his actions, Kouga was a little worried about the ramifications of ripping Hide's head off in front of Gurou. Then he had had to deal with the slaves, and keeping Kagome happy, and trying to keep himself from slaughtering the villagers that they had encountered when they inevitably pissed him off. The poor slave girl had only been a conduit for his aggression, really, rather than the source.

'Kagome,' Kouga sighed, beginning to embark on the tedious task of damage control.

'Don't. I don't even want to look at you right now.' Kagome hissed, staying true to her word and turning her back on him.

'It's not that big of a deal. Give it a day or two and she'll be back to-'

'Don't you dare try and justify what you just did.' Kagome whirled on him, eyes as scorching as fire. 'That girl has been kidnapped, taken away from everyone she loves and forced to do God knows what as a slave for _years_ , and you turn around and threaten to kill her the second she feels brave enough to actually open her mouth? How could you? No, better question, what the _fuck_ is wrong with you?'

Kouga's mouth gaped open in surprise, stunned by the level of sheer anger and hostility in her voice. As much as Kagome pissed him off, Kouga knew full well that he had done his fair share of angering her, too, but this was something else entirely. Fury positively radiated from her body, and her eyes were wild and dark.

'I-' Kouga attempted to speak once more but it seemed that the mere sound of his voice sent new waves of passionate rage through her, to the point that Kouga feared that she would have a conniption. She stomped heavily as she left him, physically fleeing in order to avoid his explanations, or maybe even just his mere presence.

It seemed that this time, Kouga would have to resort to grovelling if he wanted to earn Kagome's forgiveness again.

* * *

Several hours passed in uncomfortable silence. Freckles was withdrawn and reserved, and Kagome threw Kouga a look so ferociously scathing each time he even thought about speaking to her, that he intuited that it was safer for him to just be quiet. Eventually they found a clearing that was suitable enough for sleeping, and Kouga breathed a sigh of relief that he would only have to look out for two humans that night. It really had been a pain finding a suitable resting place for so many humans at one time, and then being vigilant enough to ensure that they weren't eaten by an opportunistic demon each time they got up to pee.

Kouga attempted several more times to speak to Kagome throughout the evening unsuccessfully, before finally giving in and maintaining an icy silence.

Kouga was undeniably grateful when the two went off to bathe in the nearby hot springs. Though still alert for any sounds of distress coming from the girls' location, Kouga had to admit that he was feeling the most relaxed that he had all day now that he was out of the firing range for Kagome's temper. He revelled in the peace for some time, body immediately tensing when he finally heard the familiar crunch of forest ground under dainty feet.

To his surprise, it was not Kagome that spoke. 'Kagome is still bathing. She said that she would join us again soon.' The girl's voice was formal and subdued. She had clearly had years to hone the perfect obedient and submissive tone whilst under Gurou's control, and hearing her use it made Kouga feel all the more guilty.

'Listen, Fre-um, Risa,' she started a little at the sound of her own name, keeping her eyes diligently affixed to the ground, 'I'm sorry.'

Kouga did not enjoy apologising to humans, but in this case it very clearly had to be done.

She took several seconds to digest his words, and Kouga could see that she was analysing them thoroughly.

'Why would you apologise to me?' She asked, voice barely a whisper.

'Because I said something cruel to you, and it was wrong of me.' Kouga exhaled in a heavy breath. He wished that she would just accept his apology and move on; it was embarrassing and demeaning enough without her questions, too.

'But I'm a human.' She answered him blankly, face devoid of comprehension or emotion.

'So? That doesn't mean that you deserve to be treated like that.' Kouga blanched a little at his own words. They had tumbled from his mouth instinctively, but the admission was surprising to him considering that just a few short months ago Kouga wholeheartedly believed that that was exactly how humans deserved to be treated, if not worse.

The girl clearly found his words too difficult to comprehend and her mouth popped open and closed as she searched for words that would not come.

Kouga had noticed a cut on her arm the previous day, it likely having been acquired at some point during their journey through the forest. He picked up Kagome's backpack gingerly, uncertain about touching her possessions when she was in such a foul mood, and fished out the little green 'first aid kit' that she seemed to rely so heavily upon. He had seen her dress his wounds enough times to know, roughly, how to do it and so he held out his hand to the girl in a gesture of goodwill.

'May I?' He asked in a way that he hoped wasn't demanding or intimidating. The girl merely stood in silent bewilderment, and so he just took her forearm and hoped that she wouldn't resist him.

Thankfully, she did not, and moreover she did not seem too afraid – though she was definitely wary, and Kouga fought hard to resist the urge to wrinkle his nose in disgust. He did not want to touch the human, nor did he want to tend to her wounds, but at this point he was willing to do whatever it took to get Kagome to look at him without wanting to murder him, and this appeared to be the fastest way to get there.

He started by applying what Kagome called 'antiseptic spray' to the site of the injury, spraying the contents of the bizarre bottle onto a piece of stark white gauze and rubbing it overly-gently on the affliction, unsure as to how much pressure the human body could take. He knew from experience that this part stung the most, but to the girl's credit she did not make a single sound. He then applied the ointment that he had watched Kagome use on himself numerous times, applying too much at first and having to wipe it off clumsily with his hand. Finally, he set about the task of applying a bandage, his technique subpar but his execution acceptable.

'That should help make sure that it doesn't get infected.' Kouga stated, parroting the words he had heard Kagome say to him, entirely unsure of what an 'infection' even was.

The girl's expression slowly changed, going from that of distrust to surprise and all of the emotions in between.

'Thank you.' She finally uttered, even going so far as to dare to look him in the eye. Kouga shrugged in response; he didn't want to get too close with the human, after all. He only wanted to get close enough to convince Kagome to forgive him again.

Kouga found himself at quite a loss for what to do next. He had never really gotten this close to a human other than Kagome before.

'So, do you remember anything about where you came from?' He reluctantly decided to break the ice.

'Not really…' she spoke deliberately slowly, as if gauging whether she was actually supposed to speak or whether his question was some kind of cruel trick. 'But I remember the lavender.'

'The lavender?'

'Yes. Surrounding my village. The fields surrounding it were full of lavender. It smelt heavenly.' She giggled to herself lightly. 'My sister and I used to pick them for the older women who used them to concoct love potions for the men that they were courting.'

'Did they work?' Kouga asked, humouring her.

'If they did, I would have been married ten times by now.' She smiled an open-mouthed smile, displaying her two front teeth which were slightly crooked, but in an endearing sort of way.

'Is that what humans call mating? 'Marriage'?' Kouga queried, his questions forming from genuine curiosity now.

'Kind of. That depends on what the definition of 'mating' is.' She shrugged daintily. It made sense that if Kouga was unaware of human mating cultures, that humans would be unaware of his.

'Mating is where you choose another who is to be your 'mate', and you claim them as your own.' Kouga began, deciding to offer her an explanation of their customs despite his better judgement.

'Claim them how?' Freckles asked in wonderment, curiosity piqued.

'Sex, usually.' His answer elicited a blush, and an uncomfortable widening of her eyes. Kagome was so direct and unfazed by most things, that Kouga had forgotten that the average human tended to be a prude. He made a mental note to ease into discussions of sex more carefully next time.

'We claim them,' he started again, treading lightly so as not to make her uncomfortable again, 'and then they share in our status. If a woman of low status became the mate of an alpha then they, too, would automatically become an alpha. As a general rule, the demon with the lower status would gain a higher ranking in the pack if they mate with someone with a higher ranking than themselves. It doesn't usually go the other way. That's why alphas always have a horde of women around them; the women want the alpha to mate with them so that they can become alphas, too.'

'Is that why women are always around you?' This was only a semi-accurate statement, as Kouga seldom allowed clusters of women to gather around him for too long. He found their chatter annoying and banal, but he supposed to the untrained eye it would seem that women followed him around everywhere. Compared to the alphas of other tribes that he'd met however, Kouga was downright virginal.

'No, women follow me around because I'm insanely handsome.' He decided to joke with her, wondering if she would laugh the way that Kagome did.

She did, a little, but it was a lighter and less confident sound. 'So mating is just…sex?' She was clearly uncomfortable with saying the word.

'No, it's about more than that. We use sex to claim each other, to…send a message to others that this person belongs to us. Sex is the most efficient way of doing that because unless precautions are taken, you can smell the other person's scent all of over them after they're done. When you mate with someone, it's kind of like courting someone, as you humans would say. If mating was just sex, then pretty much every wolf demon would be mated to each other.' Kouga laughed, thinking about how many women he alone had slept with, and laughing even harder at the fact that his was a relatively modest number compared to other wolves that he knew.

'But there're no ceremonies or anything to make it official?' Freckles continued to question, clearly having literally no knowledge of wolf demon culture at all. Considering how long she had been a slave to the north, Kouga was surprised that Gurou hadn't taught the girl even a little bit about it. He supposed Gurou used her for other things, and the thought made him angry again, so he pushed it aside.

'There are informal ceremonies sometimes, but usually only when the alpha of a pack decides to mate with someone. Political bullshit,' Kouga waved his hand dismissively, monogamy was overrated and pointless anyway in his opinion, 'but it does mean that you have some kind of claim to the other person. Usually, if a wolf demon was to kill one of his kin for no reason other than that he wanted to, the alpha would probably sentence him to death. It's bad for the tribe if random murders are allowed without repercussions.' Kouga expanded for context, considering how brutal wolf demons could be.

'But, if a wolf demon killed one of his kin because he had been, say, sleeping with his mate, that would likely be permitted.' Kouga explained, surprised at quite how much he was enjoying educating the girl, mostly because of the way that she clung onto his every word.

'So, mating is being in a relationship with someone, but without an official ceremony?'

'I guess.'

'Do wolves mate for life?' It was a fair question, as that was the assumption that many seemed to hold.

'The animals do.' Kouga smiled a little. Wolf _demon_ relationships were a little more nuanced than their animal counterparts, and often rife with drama.

'Sometimes it's hard to tell the animals apart from the men.' A curt voice appeared from the thick of the bushes. Kagome emerged, her face an odd amalgamation of emotions. Her lips were pressed into a jagged line that betrayed anger, but her eyes were downturned and moist that was more reminiscent of sadness.

'Kagome,' Kouga spoke awkwardly, hesitant to presume any one particular mood.

'Kouga was telling me about 'mating'.' Risa sped over his name quickly as if still unclear as to whether she was allowed to use it. It was better than 'my Lord', and so Kouga permitted it for now.

'Of course he was.' Kagome responded flatly, refusing to look at him or even acknowledge his presence.

'Do you want to explain marriage to him?' The slave girl questioned, apparently having ran out of bravery for the day and deciding to pass the baton to someone more accustomed to his presence.

Kagome sighed in extremely unenthusiastic acquiescence. 'Marriage is something that two people who are in love enter into. They attend a ceremony where they say vows to one another to follow during the course of their marriage, and a contract is signed. Then, legally, they each own half of what the other owns. It's meant to be about love, but sometimes it feels like it's more about politics than anything else - where I'm from.' She added quickly.

'That's…very formal.' Kouga stated, perplexed. Humans really went through the hassle of having a grand, official ceremony with vows and contracts? Why not just say that they love each other, have sex and be done with it? 'What happens if they want be…un-married?'

'They get a divorce-'

'They can't-' Both Kagome and Freckles answered in unison. The girl gaped at Kagome in a very unladylike fashion.

'Divorce?' She queried.

'Er, yes.' Kagome answered, the hostility towards Kouga on her face having been replaced by confusion.

'What's 'divorce'?' Kouga had the same question.

'Um, the official cessation of a marriage?' By the tone of her voice, Kouga couldn't tell if that was an answer or a question.

'They allow that in your village?' The girl was completely dumbfounded now. She had obviously never heard of such a concept before, and was shocked to discover that one existed.

'Um, sometimes, yeah.' Kagome seemed hesitant to give away anything more, cautious even, and so Kouga redirected the conversation.

'Why wouldn't it be allowed?' Kouga couldn't understand what the problem was. Two people fell in love, then they fell out of love – why would getting a divorce be an issue?

'Because when two people get married, they say their vows under God and the church and promise to spend their lives together. To 'divorce' would be to break their oath to God.'

Ah, the 'G' word. Kouga had always considered himself more sacrilegious than religious, him being a demonic, murderous entity and all that.

'That seems unrealistic. Humans can't even commit to what they want to eat for breakfast, let alone commit to another person for the rest of their lives.' Now Kouga was incredulous. His aversion to being around them aside, he had witnessed enough of human behaviour to know that it was almost impossible to expect such a capricious and temperamental species to adhere to such strict vows.

'Oh, and wolf demons are beacons of faithfulness?' Kagome countered sardonically, clearly still a little pissed at him.

'Not at all, but we don't try and force each other to stay together when we don't want to anymore.'

'So, if wolf demons wanted to stop mating with each other they would just…?' Freckles trailed off expectantly.

'We'd just stop fucking each other. Or at least stop fucking each other in any meaningful way.' Freckles recoiled a little in embarrassment, and Kagome snorted sarcastically at his inappropriate use of language. So far he had been failing at choosing his words more carefully.

They spent a while longer chatting, and Kouga had to admit that he didn't mind it quite as much as he would have anticipated. Talking to the little slave wasn't nearly as annoying as he presumed it would be, once he had actually taken the time to do so properly, and even Kagome began to thaw a little. Eventually Freckles succumbed to sleep, and Kouga and Kagome were the only two left awake.

Usually, Kouga was smart enough to know not to rip the bandages off of a newly acquired wound, but apparently around Kagome all of his wisdom was rendered useless.

'Kagome,' for the millionth time that day, he began to attempt to apologise.

'Don't worry about it.' She whispered, not wanting to wake the sleeping girl who was snoring loudly somewhere next to her.

'No, really. I'm sorry. You…were right.' It physically hurt to say it, but he forced the words out of his mouth anyway.

'I always am.' She responded, with just a trace of playfulness. 'I may have overreacted.'

Well that was new. 'Oh?'

'Yeah. What you said was shitty and you deserved to be yelled at but, I don't know, the rest of it was a bit much.' If by 'the rest of it' she meant a glare that could've brought even the devil to his knees and a stony silence that had literally lasted all day, then Kouga concurred. 'I just feel…I don't know.'

'Do you want to…talk…about it?' Kouga spoke the words hesitantly, not used to being confided in by anybody, and more than a little uncomfortable around overly-emotional situations.

'Not really.' She gave him an apologetic smile, but truthfully he was grateful.

'Ok then.'

'Do you know what I've noticed?' She suddenly changed the direction of conversation so quickly that it took Kouga a moment to catch up.

'What?'

'All of you guys are pretty well-spoken.' She turned her doe-eyes towards him, eyelashes batting prettily as she blinked.

'…oh?' Kouga wasn't entirely sure what she was getting at.

'As in, all of you wolf demons. Obviously I'm not an expert, and I've only met wolves from the east and the north, but you all seem relatively well-educated.'

'As opposed to regular wolf demons, who are uneducated idiots?' Kouga fought hard not to take offence at her line of questioning.

'No! I mean…well, yes. Maybe.' That stung, but at least she was honest.

'My parents were the alphas of the west, meaning that I was educated...extensively.' He skirted around the issue quickly, unwilling to revisit that particular part of his life again. 'As for the rest of my men…stupid people make sloppy fighters. To become powerful, I need a tribe that at least has some kind of capability to use their brain, so I made sure that those who were a part of it were at least moderately intelligent. Whether or not they choose to act like they are is up to them, but it's within their capabilities, at least. I imagine Gurou did the same.'

'Gurou's slaves are also really well-spoken, too, considering that a lot of them were taken when they were just kids.' She spoke thoughtfully, considering his words. Kouga couldn't help but smile involuntarily at that.

"The only thing worse than a human is a dumb human." He repeated a joke that he remembered from a long time ago, still smiling, but regretting it when he realised the company that he presently kept. 'Sorry, it was meant to be a joke.'

One look at Kagome's face told him that she was not amused.

'It's not uncommon for demons to educate their slaves, at least a bit. Makes them more useful, I guess.' Kouga shrugged, hoping that a continuation of the conversation would make Kagome stop being mad at him again.

'So they educate these girls for their own use?' Now she just sounded angry in general.

'I've never done it myself but, yeah, from what I know.' Kouga tried to be delicate with his words, not wanting to piss her off anymore than she already was.

She let out a deep breath, and seemed to mellow a little with resignation. 'That's fucked up.'

Kouga made a noncommittal noise in response. Kouga had seen worse.

* * *

Daylight arrived quickly, and as it turned out, Freckles was an early riser. By the time both Kouga and Kagome had awoken, she had already packed away all of their things, dressed herself, and had some freshly-caught fish turning crisp above a handmade fire.

They ate, and then they prepared themselves to leave. The trek back to the caves was a lot faster on returning, as they didn't have to stop at a million villages to ask about the girls' families. They managed to arrive at the caves just before sundown, and as they entered through Kagome's favourite opening – the one where they had to walk through the waterfall which never failed to put her in a bad mood – Kouga could already feel the tension become palpable as he brought with him not one, but two little human girls in his stead.

'Don't start.' He warned his pack, beginning to wonder why he even came back to these caves when all they ever did was give him a migraine.

Kagome was looking more…confrontational than usual, so he quickly but authoritatively marched them through the throng of parting wolf demons to a more secluded area of the caves. Sodden and scowling, Kagome was a rather funny sight to behold. Kouga had to restrain himself quite forcefully from laughing.

'You,' he pointed at Freckles, 'can stay with Katsumi.'

'I like her.' She responded softly, clearly happy with his decision.

'Great, because you guys are gonna become best friends.' He couldn't resist chuckling, secretly delighting in how angry Katsumi was bound to become when he informed her that the extra human was now her problem to deal with.

* * *

He had dumped the girl in Katsumi's empty quarters, having warmed to her slightly throughout their time together but reluctant to spend _anymore_ time with her for a while. Kagome was mostly silent during the walk back to his own quarters, which Kouga recognised to be a dangerous sign.

'Are you ok?' He asked, not optimistic that he would receive an honest answer.

Kagome peered at him with a strange look on her face, and then sighed before coming to a stop just before the door to his room.

'I'm gonna go take a bath.' She stated morosely. As the torch lamps flickered beside them, Kouga found himself counting her injuries for the first time. Her face was peppered with tiny abrasions, almost too small to see but still present nevertheless, and along the line of her jaw ran a slightly larger cut. Her knee and shoulder were both injured he knew, but they were not visible underneath her clothing. Other than that, it did not appear as though she had any other wounds, so he couldn't attribute her capricious moods to severe pain or discomfort.

She opened the door first, setting her bag down on the ground and opening it. After finding a couple of brightly coloured containers that Kouga recognised to be her 'shampoo' and 'conditioner', she set about retrieving a towel and a clean set of clothes.

'Can you help me?' She asked wearily, back turned.

'Huh?' Kouga looked haphazardly around the room, unsure as to what she wanted help with.

'With my clothes.' She indicated to her torso, which simply made Kouga even more confused. 'Can you help me take off my shirt. My shoulder's hurting.' She sighed, pursing her lips unhappily when she mentioned her injured shoulder.

'Oh, um. I mean, wouldn't you rather-'

'It's fine, I don't mind you doing it.' She answered him before he had even managed to ask his question. She looked tired, and so hesitant as he was, Kouga did as she asked.

He put his hands on the bottom part of the fabric, his heart beating a little faster in his chest as he lifted the shirt upwards. He tried to avert his eyes, but he couldn't stop him himself from glancing at her as he gently manoeuvred the material over her arms and head. She wore an unusual, lacy garment that was pitch black in colour and frustratingly wrapped around the most interesting parts of her torso.

'It's called a bra. It's to give my boobs some support so they're not bouncing around all the time.' It was obvious that she could tell that he had been looking, but she seemed too drained to care.

'Is that a problem?' He asked slowly, curiosity about the strange little item outweighing his awkwardness. He had never seen a 'bra' before.

'Is what a problem?' She demanded a little impatiently, shoulders beginning to sag.

'Bouncing boobs?' That made her laugh, though just a little.

'It can be painful.' She smiled. Women were certainly odd creatures.

He shifted his attention to her shoulder. 'It looks better than I thought it would.'

But only marginally. The bite wound had clear indentations of fangs, which were raised and partially inflamed. A purple-ish bruise spread out from the area.

'I wouldn't know, I haven't looked.' She offered simply, her head twisted to the side as far away from the wound as physically possible.

'Oh. Well, if you do, it doesn't look that bad.' Kouga said in a woefully inadequate attempt at comfort. Kagome did not respond, and instead busied herself with gathering her things.

'Do you need anymore help?' He asked, a part of him wondering what she looked like underneath her 'jeans', as she called them, before he banished the thought from his mind altogether.

'I can manage.'

He let her go, feeling more and more concerned about the state of her mental wellbeing the longer he spent with her. He made sure to keep a keen ear on her as she bathed to make sure that she was ok, and she was, up until the point that she began screaming.

* * *

 **Me when writing this chapter: oh shit, cliffhangers exist. You're welcome :D :p**

 **Also, just as an fyi, this chapter also wasn't very much shorter than the usual 8000 words I go for. It was about 7 and a half so I've been doing good with these latest chapters, but if they do get shorter please don't be disappointed - it means I can update faster and in the long run I think that's better than a 10,000 word chapter every 5 months :p really hope you enjoy this one, please review if you want to tell me how amazing I am, or just to troll me, I enjoy both in almost equal measure :D**

 **Until next time guys~**


	17. Chapter 17

**Well, it's a few days late but it is here guys! I don't have any long author's notes to write this time, so all I'll say is thank you so much to my supporters yet again! I think I've responded to all the reviews, but if I haven't I'm sorry, I just started a new job and I'm trying to get into the swing of balancing everyday life, university work and work work all at the same time :')**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

 **When Memories Fade – Chapter 17**

It was a long time ago, and he was just a stupid kid.

As much as Kouga told himself that, the memory still haunted him even as he grew into a man. It still ate at his subconscious, terrorising his nightmares and forcing him to wake some nights in a sticky-cold sweat.

He told himself that he was over it, that it was just a distant memory that no longer affected him. He told himself that he didn't care anymore, and that he would never think of it again.

He was lying.

* * *

He hadn't done well enough during his training that day. He knew that by how closely knitted his father's eyebrows had been at the end of it, and how tightly his lips were pressed together. Kouga sighed; he wouldn't eat again that night.

He was sniffling a little, the accumulation of the cold and the pain causing his eyes to mist and his nose to run. He rubbed at his eyes ferociously as his small, childish hands set his broken leg to the best of their ability as he tried hard not to yelp with the pain. If he made too much noise his father would come, and if his father caught him crying then he would likely break the other leg, too.

His father always worked him hard, but today it seemed as though he had wanted to draw blood. They had been trying a new manoeuvre, one that would allow Kouga to flip an attacking enemy onto their back in seconds. It was close-combat, which Kouga despised as his strengths tended to lay in tactics rather than actual battle. His father had grabbed him from the side, just as he had said he would, and Kouga extended his leg down sharply, kicking his father's own leg away and unbalancing him. Instead of allowing Kouga to lift him however, slamming him down and completing a perfect technique, his father had instead regained his footing immediately and slammed his foot into Kouga's fragile shin. The move had been undoubtedly unfair, as only someone who had had prior knowledge of Kouga's next move would have had such a rapid rebound rate; even the more astute of enemies wouldn't have been able to predict the move easily.

On impact, the bone had splintered, sending parts of it ricocheting through his skin.

Kouga knew better than to howl, or whine or to even make a noise at all. The pain was unbearable, and he bit his tongue until he tasted blood in his efforts to remain silent. His temple began to sweat, and nausea began to impair his focus as he felt bile rise up his throat.

Slowly he finished the moved, grinding his teeth together forcefully in an attempt to hold back a sob, his wounded leg crunching and cracking as he pivoted on it.

His father went down, but not without a smile.

'If I were the enemy, you would be dead.' He stated, remorseless and cold as he surveyed his son, watching Kouga's face drain of its colour and body become slack without so much as a hint of concern.

'I don't know why I keep doing these training sessions with you. Every time I keep hoping that you'll get better, that you'll finally prove to me that I don't have such a failure as a son, but each time you continue to prove me wrong.' Kouga bowed his head in shame, feeling woozy and his vision blurring slightly. No matter what, he could not black out. Not in front of his father.

'Clean yourself up, you fucking disgrace.' Genzo ordered of his sickly, wounded son, before he left him to tend to his wounds alone.

So Kouga did, to the best of his abilities, not wanting to give his father one more reason to be angry with him. A few tears had escaped his eyes and he despised himself for them, wishing that he could be strong, that he could be the type of son that made his father proud. It was a heavy burden for an eight-year-old to bear, but his father had made him carry it as if was his birthright.

He flexed his leg reluctantly, testing it. The agony crippled him, and he huddled into himself.

He had to get moving. It would be dinnertime soon, and his parents loved to make him watch them eat while he starved as a form of twisted punishment.

He got up, putting weight on his leg. He would have to limp, he could not avoid that. The pain was too severe and it gave out each time he tried to stand on it for more than a second. There was no doubt that Kouga's father intended to cause him lasting pain, as Genzo knew that Kouga healed slowly – a consequence of his age and immaturity. His regenerative capabilities were still faster than the average human adult, but an injury as extensive as his would likely take weeks to fully heal.

He hobbled slowly, steadily, pausing to wipe tears and catch frantic breaths as he did. He needed to compose himself before he faced his parents or there would be hell to pay, and he had to take a moment to brace himself before he entered his parents' personal dining quarters. His limbs were quivering and twitching in strained anticipation, and the rising spurt of fear in his chest made him want to about turn and run. His breath came out in ragged jolts of frigid air as he placed his hand on the door, pushing it open as if he was pushing open the gateway to hell itself.

Inside the dimly lit, and not particularly accommodating room, sat his parents. His mother sat at the head of a gold-coated table – a human manufacture that one of them had likely appropriated – with her deeply obsidian hair falling to just below her chin, emphasising the cut of her cheekbones and jawline. She was pretty in a cruel way, with sneering lips that were full and heavy and startlingly blue eyes that betrayed a callous and unfeeling woman.

Next to her was his father, ever the massive, imposing figure, and next to him was a woman. A human woman.

* * *

The scream reverberated through his very soul.

He jolted from his position as though electrocuted, legs carrying him faster than he had ever ran before, faster than even the jewel shards could permit him to run, driven by sheer panic. He was there in a second, not caring if she was naked, not caring if it caused her embarrassment; his only mission was to protect her, and he would do it with his life.

When he entered the room, legs pumping impossibly fast but only touching the ground lightly to afford him more stealth, the steam greeted him thickly and powerfully. It only took a second for Kouga to force his eyesight to adjust, but when he did one thing became abundantly clear: himself and Kagome were the only two people in the room.

She was in the water, naked as anticipated. Her body was backed up against the stone wall of the hot spring, hands clutching either side of the hard rock. She was panting, each breath ripping from her lungs like a dog trapped in a hot car. Her eyes were fixed on nothing.

He went to her, but he did not speak. Not pausing to take off his own clothes, Kouga stepped into the temperate water beside her, easing himself down until he was standing waist deep. His own body blocked her view of whatever was haunting her, and he placed one hand behind her, sliding it in the crevasse between the stone and the small of her back, and the other hand underneath her legs.

He walked with her gently, not minding that her dripping body dampened his torso, listening to the small patter of water droplets as they fell from her body as he walked.

He was quick to find something to place over her body.

She was mewling quietly as Kouga wrapped her in the spare towel that she always made sure to keep handy in her backpack. Her body lay horizontal in his arms, and as Kouga gently turned her vertically to place her on the floor, unsure what to do next, she wrapped two frantic arms around him and clung desperately to his shoulders, whispering detached phrases and begging him not to let her go.

Instead, he settled with seating them both on his bed. It became sodden almost instantly, but that couldn't be helped.

'Kagome.' He prompted delicately, her arms still clinging defiantly to his neck in a way that had begun to cut off the oxygen in his windpipe.

'I thought…I thought I was…' She sobbed, the intake of air needed for speech ripping through her lungs so loudly that it was almost painful.

'It's ok. You're ok.' He hoped that his platitudes were comforting, or at the very least not making the situation worse, but Kouga couldn't deny how out of his depth he felt. 'Do you want me to get someone? I could call Katsumi or…Risa?'

'No!' Her head shot up from its resting place against his shoulder for the first time, her deeply brown eyes shedding tears like a waterfall. 'Please don't leave me.'

It was supposed to be nice to be needed, to be wanted. As a child, Kouga had often dreamed of what it would be like to live with parents that treated him as a person with worth, rather than as an annoyance. It had been a long time since Kouga had allowed himself to dwell on such fanciful things, but he still thought that when one was needed by another, it was meant to be a nice feeling.

Instead, all Kouga felt was sheer and unrelenting terror. Because to be needed was to be depended upon, and though he could be trusted with running his pack, and he could handle being needed in his capacity as alpha, to be needed on an intimate and personal level was something different entirely. If he screwed up as the alpha, people could end up dead. Arguably, the stakes were much higher for him in this position every single day, however he was never afraid. For the majority of his life Kouga had maintained a barrier between himself and others, and then suddenly Kagome appeared and without even realising it she had chipped away at it with each day that had passed. And now, when he felt he needed his impenetrable wall of complacence and cruel detachment more than ever, he had gone to where it had previously been and all that he could see in its place was a wide, open horizon. The wall had gone, and just like a bursting dam he could not quell the ferocity of his terror.

He wanted to help Kagome, not because she could see the jewel shards and not because she was useful to him, but because he cared for her, and seeing her in such distress hurt him. But she needed him to help her, too, and Kouga had never really helped anyone before except for himself. How could he be trusted with fixing something so precious? Something so fragile that it looked like it could fracture into a million tiny little pieces at any second, when he had lived his whole life as cruel, heartless bastard who took what he wanted and spent more time being pissed off than he did being awake.

Kouga wasn't the type of person who helped people; he only destroyed and fractured them. He would lead his pack to greatness with an iron fist and go down as the youngest wolf demon to ever achieve such success. One day he would go back to the west and present his mother with his father's severed head, and then he would take hers as well. Caring for anyone, anything other than that was never a part of his plans. However, as she sat there, hands clamped tightly around his arm and shivering in a thin towel against the cool breeze of the evening, Kouga realised that he wanted to help her, more than he wanted revenge, more than he wanted to lead his pack, even, because he had never seen a creature look so broken, and yet so beautiful at the same time.

* * *

She was wholesome, and even with the gag on Kouga could tell that she was the type of girl that was friendly and quiet, and liked to keep to herself. Her dirty blonde hair hung limply against the rags that adorned her slender shoulders, and her grey eyes were made greyer by the rivulets of tears cascading down her face.

He approached the table as he always did, broken leg creaking and snapping as he walked. He could not show weakness anymore; his parents were watching. He kept his face deliberately blank, an emotionless mask that hid a deep morass of pain and sadness.

He sat down.

'I expected better of you today.' His father's gravelly voice sent shivers down Kouga's spine. It was the type of voice that could incite fear with just its sound alone. The fact that it was attached to Genzo's massively hulking, and heavily scarred body seemed overkill.

'I'm sorry father, I'll do better next time-' Kouga began, desperate to earn back his father's 'favour' - if it could be called that - by any means necessary.

'But once again you've proven to me how worthless you really are.' Genzo continued, not acknowledging Kouga's interruption. Kouga winced; he would be punished for that.

'Your father and I have come up with a creative solution as to how you can redeem yourself.' His mother's voice had never been motherly, only cold and acerbic, and oftentimes bored.

'I'll do anything.' Kouga agreed eagerly. He would walk a thousand miles on his broken leg if that's what it took to prove to his father that he was worthy.

'Excellent. Now kill the human.' His father commanded, eyes never diverting from his.

His mother smiled slowly, widely, a rare occurrence for her. 'And make it slow.'

* * *

'Kagome, I…' His words stopped, leaving his sentence unfinished. 'What's wrong? I can't…help you if I don't know what's wrong.'

He had been reluctant to speak to her, to even breathe too loudly for fear of spooking her, but as time ticked by and the last vestiges of light fell from the sky to make way for the inky darkness of the night, Kouga's patience finally ran out.

Her head was buried beneath his arm, next to his ribcage. She didn't move it. 'I thought I saw him.' Her voice was so quiet, that even Kouga had to strain to hear it.

'Saw who?'

'Hide.' Kouga's blood stopped flowing all at once, his limbs feeling heavy and numb. It was surprising how quickly just the mention of his name incited rage and anxiety in him.

'You thought you saw _him_?' Kouga repeated her words methodically, digesting each syllable as he contemplated her response.

'I thought he was there with me. I thought…' She broke down in unadulterated sobs yet again, the upset colouring her cheeks with a rosy hue.

'He isn't here.' Kouga responded, his statement firm and final. Kouga had killed him. He could still remember the feel of his flesh ripping under his claws and hear the throttled cries that tore from his swollen throat. He held onto the memory for as long as he could; reliving the kill felt good.

'Then why does it still feel like he is?' Her voice came out in the most sorrowful tone that Kouga had ever heard. Her pain reverberated through him as if he was feeling it himself. He tightened his arm around her petite body, rubbing his hand along her bare shoulders for warmth.

'He's dead, Kagome. I buried him myself.' He had meant that, of course, as a figure of speech. His head had been tossed and his scraps had been fed to the wolves. A burial would've been too good for him, and Kouga would've seen his grave desiccated in an instant.

A curious thought suddenly occurred to Kouga, one that made his throat grow tight. 'Do I remind you of him?'

Kagome's head shot upwards, the tears having been momentarily stunned into cessation. 'Why would you?'

'Because I'm a wolf demon.' The very thought of it made him feel queasy. He didn't want to know if he reminded her of Hide – he didn't know how he would get over that if he did. Still, he _needed_ to know. If he was the source of her pain then he would remove himself from her presence, no matter how much it wounded him to do so.

'You are nothing like him.' A single, sparkling tear fell from her eyes as she lifted a soft hand to touch her fingertips against his jawline.

He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, though his stomach was still tied into painful knots.

'I'm sorry…for everything.' He couldn't help but feel a crushing guilt in his chest; if he hadn't brought the northern pack over for the festival, Kagome wouldn't have been attacked in the first place.

'It's not your fault.' Kagome whispered, but her eyes were a little distant.

'Do you want me to take you home?' He didn't want to give her the offer, to even speak the words because Kouga knew that if he took her home she may never come back again, but he had never seen her so vulnerable or scared. If she wanted to go, no matter how much it pained him, he would let her.

She took a second to think, contemplating his words with a delicate bite of her lip. 'No.'

'No?' Kouga was so surprised at her answer that he was sure he must have heard her wrong.

'When it first happened and I saw you…killing him, I was scared.' Kagome admitted, eyelashes shimmering in the flicker of candlelight with the residue of her tears.

'Of me.' It was more of a statement of fact than a question.

'Yes. Of you.' Kagome cleared her throat a little, voice husky. 'But like I said before, I understand what you did. You were protecting me.'

Kouga nodded slightly. Technically, his more bloodier actions were more to do with exacting gratuitous revenge than protection, but ensuring Kagome's safety had been his main priority.

'And you did protect me,' she continued, 'because you're strong, and when I'm around you I feel safe. You make me feel safe.'

The whole situation felt surreal to Kouga – a human feeling _safe_ around him? He supposed that he had gotten used to his and Kagome's complicated relationship by now, but every time another layer was peeled away to reveal a new dimension to it, Kouga couldn't help but feel shell-shocked.

'I'm sorry that I've been so weird with you these past couple of days, I just…I don't know what I feel. I'm all over the place. One minute I feel happy and the next minute I feel like crying, but what I do know, irrevocably, is that I want to stay with you.' Her unabashed honesty, so clear to see on her face, made Kouga determined to make sure she didn't regret those words.

'You _are_ safe with me. I'll fucking kill anyone that tries to hurt you.' He swore to her, taking her small hand in his own and making sure that she was looking into his eyes as he did so that she could see the depths of his sincerity.

'I know that.' She smiled.

* * *

The woman's face was painted with a mixture of dirt and blood, each muscle twitching in terror and anticipation as she fought against the ropes that bound her hands and feet together.

Kouga couldn't breathe. The woman snapped her head to face him, a child with a broken leg, and pleaded with him through the muffle of her gag, begging him to show her mercy. His legs began to shake, and he felt his eyes begin to prick with tears yet again. He did not want to kill this woman; he didn't want to kill anybody.

'Well?' His father demanded, ridiculing him with a single syllable. He knew that Kouga did not want to kill her, too.

'I…I can't.' He stammered slowly, taking breaths in heavy gulps but still feeling short of it.

'What was that?' Genzo boomed, grabbing Kouga by the scruff of the neck and lifting him until he was eye level. 'What the fuck did you just say to me?'

'I can't do it!' Kouga screamed, the top half of his left leg swinging out of synch with the bottom half, thrashing wildly to escape his father's grasp. Genzo dropped him, and his leg landed wetly, hotly, viscous blood draining from the re-opened wound.

'Fine. I'll do it.' His father advanced upon the woman, his mother watching with a banal mix of interest and disinterest. He grabbed the woman by her tattered blouse and sunk his teeth into her neck, quickly and without hesitation. She screamed as best she could through the gag, and the tears that began to leak from her eyes smudged the dirt and dried blood already on her cheeks.

Genzo removed his teeth from her neck, and then used his huge hand to remove her right arm from her body. She quieted almost instantly, eyes wide with the sudden realisation that her time was up, and all her hope and prayers had been in vain.

She was going to die.

And then she screeched. Genzo removed the gag from her mouth so that he could hear her better, enjoying the way the woman lamented her fate, the sound ripping through Kouga's eardrums and making him feel nauseous.

Genzo offered a punch this time, her nose cracking and splintering under the force. As each second ticked by, her wails only served to get louder and more frantic. She was on the floor now, and Kouga's father was on top of her. He brought a leg down with such strength that it crushed her own leg instantly, using his claws to rip flesh from the top half of her body.

Kouga could never quite forget the way that her eyes remained fixed on him the entire time, mouth open in a hollow scream.

* * *

He hadn't slept much that night, feeling too tense and too alert to do so. Kagome slept peacefully, which was a surprising yet welcome occurrence. Kouga watched over her as if she were the most precious diamond, never taking her out of his sight, scrutinising each twist and turn as she slept. When she awoke in the morning, she looked better, however the purple bags under her eyes still betrayed fatigue.

'How are you feeling?' He spoke gently, not wanting to scare her when she had only just roused from slumber.

'Better.' She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and then sat up and yawned.

'You still tired?' She looked it.

'A bit.' She answered reluctantly, rubbing at her eyes again.

'Take it easy for the next few days, ok? You should get some more rest.' Kouga was worried about her. He had somehow managed to convince himself of the misguided belief that after their talk last night she would've woken up in the morning invigorated and back to her old self. It was perturbing for him to see that she hadn't.

'I'm not an invalid, I'll be fine.' She said, waving off the concern in irritation.

'I mean it. Get some rest.' He used a more authoritative tone now, similar to a tone that one may use with a disobedient child. He knew that Kagome needed to be told sternly if there was any hope of getting her to do what he wanted her to.

She rolled her eyes at him, unimpressed, but didn't offer up any other resistance or complaints as she sank back down into the depths of the silk sheets adorning his bed.

'I'll bring you something to eat.' He told her as he walked through the door, catching a hint of something that sounded like 'yeah, yeah…' before he closed it.

The whole situation made Kouga feel uneasy. He liked quick fixes, or at least circumstances that could be remedied by brute force. Emotions, trauma….these were all things that were alien to Kouga, and out of his control.

And he hated not being in control.

His mood brightened a little when he glimpsed Katsumi, mouth pressed together in a fierce pout, leaning against one of the cave's outer walls. He approached her, willing his mind to turn to other things.

'Something wrong?' He enquired, overly polite with a wicked grin on his face.

'Tomi ate the best bit of the prey we brought back this morning.' She declared childishly, eyes cast towards the heavens as if unending misery had befallen her.

Kouga's face fell, just a little. 'Oh. Is that all that's wrong?'

Katsumi tilted her head like an attentive puppy. 'I can't think of anything else that would be bothering me. Why?'

'No reason.' Now it was Kouga's turn to appear glum. 'You didn't have any unexpected…surprises visit you last night?'

'Like what?' She grinned widely, her dagger-like canines on full display. 'Did you show up to my chambers last night looking for a little late-night action?'

Kouga almost choked on his own saliva.

'Because if so, I thought I told you you're not my type.' She finished.

'I'm everyone's type.' He recovered expertly, managing to hide the residual cough.

'Does Kagome agree?' As usual, Katsumi went straight for the jugular, and it worked.

Kouga suddenly got very despondent, very fast. 'So there's nothing else that's troubling you?' He asked flatly, feeling very much over this game now.

'You're so predictable.' Katsumi laughed, taking a kind of perverted pleasure from the sad puppy look currently adorning his face. 'No, Kouga, I wasn't upset that you told Risa to stay in my chambers. For the tenth time now, I like humans.' She shrugged, swiftly crushing Kouga's hopes of having at least annoyed her a little.

'Where is she?' Kouga asked, not really interested but making conversation for the sake of giving his mind something else to think about.

'Around, about. I asked her to gather some lavender for my chambers. It smells like animals in there.' Her tone was vaguely accusatory, but Kouga didn't care to address it.

'Now I see why you 'like' that girl so much. She's basically your own personal slave.' Kouga sneered, feeling a little irritable and wanting to get under her skin.

'On the contrary, I asked Risa if she would do me a favour, and she said she would. Happily, might I add.' She gave Kouga a winning smile, and he decided he had had enough of the conversation now. It was never fun to mess with Katsumi because somehow she always managed to get the last laugh.

He had been neglecting to do his usual rounds of the tribe, lately. Though it was merely a formality, he liked to do it for the sake of making his pack feel as though their opinions and feelings mattered to him as their leader.

They didn't, but still.

Getting into the swing of it again was more difficult than Kouga thought it would be, and he stood awkwardly at the side of a group of women who were laughing in hushed whispers regretting his decisions.

'Ahem.' He cleared his throat to make himself known. He should've skipped them and just gone straight to the men; he was never good at dealing with women when their mouths weren't full.

'My Lord,' one of them trilled gratingly, batting her feminine lashes his way, 'what an unexpected surprise'.

'Don't tell me you're here to speak to us?' Another chimed in.

'What an honour.' They were all unmated, and the unmated ones were always the most annoying.

'I just wanted to check in. See if you have any concerns.' He said gruffly, not wanting the hassle of having to rebuff their advances by accidentally being pleasant to them.

'So serious.' The smallest one cooed, arching her back to draw attention to the ample chest that more than made up for her lack of height.

'Girls,' Miki, the only woman in the group who had yet to say anything, spoke up, 'if you're here to flirt with our alpha then I suggest you do it elsewhere. I am mated remember, and I wouldn't want to give Akio the wrong idea.'

As the self-proclaimed leader of their social group, Miki's words held a lot of weight. The women mumbled in feeble protest, before reluctantly rising to their feet and extracting themselves from Kouga's presence. One of them couldn't resist trailing a suggestive finger along Kouga's shoulder as she passed by him, but when he tensed against the unwelcome sensation she removed her hand as quickly as if she had touched dry ice. It would be a while before she would be so bold as to touch him without his permission again, thank God. Kouga considered reprimanding her, but then decided against it after the quick realisation that he really couldn't be bothered.

He tipped his head in a small gesture of gratefulness to Miki, thankful that she had ridded them of her annoying friends' presences.

'How can I help you, my Lord?' She asked, as Kouga winced at the title she gave him. Miki was a skilled manipulator, and in fact shared a lot in common with Katsumi on the surface; though Miki was bitchier and less overt, preferring trickery and maliciousness to Katsumi's playful jabs. Kouga was always wary around this one, as he never knew quite what game she was playing. She was easily the unofficial alpha of the women in his tribe, and it was clear to see why as she habitually exploited everyone around her to get she wanted, and she always had the perfect excuse ready to blame her actions on somebody else.

'Call me Kouga, or call me nothing at all.' He demanded, instincts telling him to be cautious.

'Oh, I'm so sorry! I forgot that you dislike being called that, I hope I haven't caused any offence.' A sickly sweet grin. Kouga may have even believed her if it wasn't already the seventh time that they had had this conversation.

'I wanted to see how things are going. Are you happy? Are the rest of the women?' Kouga was satisfied with using Miki as a spokesperson for all of the women, and fully intended to do so. That way, he could get his rounds done quicker and tend to Kagome again.

'Of course, my Lord,' she tilted her head to the side, a virtue of innocence. 'How could we be anything other than happy with an alpha like you ruling us?'

'So no complaints?' He gritted his teeth against the use of his most hated phrase again, wishing more than anything that he could knock her head clean off of her shoulders. As impulsive as he could be, Kouga was also smart. Miki had a large amount of authority in his pack whether he liked it or not, and killing her would be an incredibly unpopular – and dangerous – move. Plus, her mate would likely lead an uprising against Kouga for revenge, as he too was relatively popular amongst the men. It was wiser to play her game, or at least to not kill her, in the long run.

'Well, perhaps just one small one.' She spoke with a widening of her large, blue eyes.

'And what might that be?'

'The humans.' Her voice suddenly grew cold and frigid, barely withholding the snarl that so desperately wanted to leave her mouth.

'That's not up for discussion.' That was final, even for Miki.

'Well, you asked.' She all but growled. With all pretence gone, Kouga could finally see the first genuine emotion on her face since they began their conversation: hatred.

'If that's all.' Kouga said by way of goodbye. He motioned to leave, but stopped abruptly when he noticed an assortment of flowers strewn across the ground in front of her feet. 'What are those?'

'Flowers, my Lord.' She was mocking him, he could tell, but her voice was so pleasant she could easily deny it if he decided to address her disrespect.

'I know that,' he ran a hand through his haphazard ponytail in annoyance. 'Why do you have them?'

'Akio gave them to me as a gift, and I'm making them into garland for my hair. Why, are you jealous?' Her grin was saccharine and unkind.

Kouga scoffed once, not finding her suggestion of jealousy even worthy of a response. She angered him, but curiosity drove him to question her more.

'Do…do women like that kind of thing?' His query was hesitant, unsure as to what she would read into it.

'Are you looking for a mate?' Her question came as fast as a wolf closing in on its prey.

She had Kouga cornered. 'No. I was simply curious.'

'That's a strange thing to be curious about, my Lord.' She emphasised the word 'Lord' deliberately, testing the boundaries of their little game, wondering who would snap first. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were interested in someone.'

'I have no time for women. As I said, I was curious.' He was flippant, but he didn't sell it and he could tell. Miki was too sharp-witted for that, and so rather than being suitably placated as Kouga had hoped, she instead gave him a knowing glance and began to busy herself with the flowers again.

Kouga, dissatisfied and on edge, once more attempted to escape from her clutches, but once more stopped, this time at the sound of Miki's voice.

'I'd give her perfume,' her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, 'flowers only wilt and die.'

* * *

After he had vomited, Kouga had been sent to his 'room'. It was a small cave with a thick animal pelt covering a bed of hay, and little other furnishing. It was hardly fitting for the son of the rulers of the southern tribe, let alone a child, but his father was adamant that his weakness made him undeserving of anything more grand.

His adrenaline had begun to wear off, and Kouga felt shaky and tense. His leg throbbed excruciatingly, and his mouth tasted sour. Without warning the door opened, and suddenly he was bathed in the gentle light of the hallway candles that illuminated his body. Something hard and heavy was thrown into his room, and it hit the stone floor with a wet thud. Kouga sat unmoving for several seconds, his childish imagination having convinced him that it was a monster, some sort of terrifying beast with eight arms and razor-sharp teeth as big as his head. He took a breath to quell his frantic heartbeat, turning to face the object of his fear.

She gasped. Each breath was a strenuous task for her, as she barely managed to cling to life. At least one lung had collapsed, causing her exhalations to come out in a wheeze, and her breaths caught every so often on the blood that kept filling up the back of her throat.

It was the human, and her eyes were still fixed directly on him.

They were blue, just like his, but that was the only discernible part of her body left now. It was mangled beyond repair, beyond recognition. Her face was swollen and purple under the blood, and she was missing several teeth. Her nose could no longer be discerned on her face.

Her body was missing its limbs, and the pitiful creature flexed and un-flexed her body like a worm as she attempted to inch closer to Kouga.

'He'p me.' She gasped weakly, moving the stumps that used to be her arms futilely as she did so.

'Stay back!' Kouga cried, desperately searching for an exit that he knew he would not find. She was blocking the only one.

'P'ease.' She whispered, advancing slowly, entrails dragging alongside her, still half inside her body.

'Don't come any closer!' He tripped and howled in agony as he jolted his leg, but continued using his hands to propel his body away from the mixture of blood and bone that was chasing him. 'Please, just leave me alone!'

His back was against the wall, and she was still coming towards him, her vicious blue eyes still boring into his.

'NO!' He screamed, covering his own eyes with his hands as she was almost upon him.

'The human is almost dead.' The quiet fury of his father's voice struck him like a blow to the face. He uncovered his eyes, and saw that his father was stood in the doorway, watching him. 'She's almost dead, and yet you're still afraid?'

Kouga said nothing, his heart palpitating too erratically for him to be able to attempt speech without his voice quivering.

'You're worthless.' Kouga's father spat out the words as if they were a potent acid. 'As punishment you will sit there and watch her die. It's time you started acting like somebody worthy of this tribe.' He paused to leave, but stopped and turn back to face his terrified son one last time. 'Oh, and if you ever cover your eyes again, I'll gouge them out myself.'

'She's dying, father. She needs help.' Kouga's little voice croaked. He knew he should just obey, he knew that he should watch the poor, pathetic woman die in agony and thank God that he wasn't in her position himself, but he just couldn't. He didn't want to see her die, and he didn't want to see her suffer. Kouga didn't want to see anyone hurt, even if they were human.

'She's a human. Her life means nothing to me.' Genzo replied, before he shut the door and it was dark again.

* * *

He'd gone with flowers. Even after Miki's cryptic advice to stay away from them, he'd decided to get some anyway, and not just because he'd probably have to ransack a human village in order to get his hands on some perfume.

He'd be damned if he, alpha of the east would pick them though. If his men ever found out he'd never live down the shame, plus it would pose questions that he wasn't willing to answer, and so he delegated that task to Nami.

'You want me to pick some flowers for you?' She had seemed surprised that he was even talking to her, let alone that he had asked her to perform such an effeminate and unusual task.

'That's what I said isn't it?' He responded, a little embarrassed and already beginning to think it was a bad idea. He wasn't trying to woo Kagome, as Miki had suggested, it was more of a desperate attempt to lift her spirits. He saw her on multiple occasions stopping to smell the various flora she encountered, so he knew she liked them.

He had threatened Nami into silence, but much to his chagrin rather than being compelled into keeping her mouth shut through terror she had instead merely giggled and said: 'Don't worry, I won't tell anybody.' And then she had winked at him.

Kouga decided that he didn't like being winked at.

Kouga busied himself with finishing checking in on the rest of the pack (very determinedly side-stepping all children and teens in the process), and when Nami was finished, she met him in a secluded area outside of the cave walls where Kouga was sure they wouldn't be disturbed.

'Why are we meeting here?' Nami asked, eyeing their vacant surroundings sceptically. In her hands she held an array of pastel coloured, sweet-smelling flowers.

'Because I want to.' His discomfort made him testy.

Nami shrugged. 'Well, here you go. Are you giving them to Kagome?' Just the mere mention of Kagome's name made Nami's face light up with a smile, and for a second Kouga caught himself thinking that it would be nice for somebody to like him so much that just saying his name made them happy.

'No.'

'Oh.' She looked confused now. 'Then who are they for?'

Kouga hadn't entirely thought that one through. 'Um…'

'It's ok if they're for Kagome,' she smiled again, 'I bet she'll love them.'

'…you think so?' Kouga was hesitant to answer her, annoyed at himself that he even sought reassurance from a teenager in the first place.

'Of course, I picked them after all.' She grinned even wider. 'But I'll let you say that you did if you want.'

'Thanks.' Kouga grumbled, having been fully intending to tell Kagome he had been the one to procure the flowers for her, but feeling stubbornly reluctant to do so now that Nami had given him her permission to do so.

Kouga wanted to leave, but he felt strangely compelled to thank her before he did. Usually he barked orders and expected them to be done, but this time he felt as if he owed the little scavenger some words of gratitude at the very least.

'Thanks, Nami.'

The kid almost had an aneurysm with the shock of having actually heard her name being spoken from her infamously terse leader's lips, and Kouga hightailed it back to his chambers before he could be coerced into anymore conversation.

He knocked on the door, even though it was his own quarters, just as a precaution.

'Hey,' he spoke, testing the waters.

'Hi.' A sleep-thick voice greeted him from somewhere within the shadows of the room, and he took this as permission to fully cross the threshold of the doorway.

'How are you feeling?' He asked, the flowers currently hidden behind his back as he was suddenly very doubtful as to whether he should give them to her at all. It was an unwelcome feeling, but Kouga was nervous that she would reject them.

'Fine.' She reassured him, but her smile was weak.

'I, um,' he kicked himself for the timid way in which he spoke, 'have something for you.'

'Oh?' She smiled nicely again, looking at him expectantly.

He faltered for a second, and then acquiesced. He wouldn't be able to leave the room without her noticing them now, anyway.

'I got you these.' He pulled his hand from his back in a rather violent motion and stuck them in front of her face. He hoped it seemed as if he didn't care what she thought of them one way or another.

'Oh!' She was evidently surprised, and Kouga couldn't tell if that was a good sign or not. 'They're beautiful.'

To his relief, she immediately took them from him and scented them delicately. 'They smell beautiful too. Thank you.'

'I thought they might cheer you up or whatever.' He shrugged uninterestedly, the picture of complacence.

She gazed at him for just a second longer than she should have, and then spoke. 'I don't have a vase to put them in.'

'A vase?'

'Yeah, so I can put water in there and they won't die for a few days.' She explained, gesturing to the stems of the flowers.

Although in theory Kouga was aware that flowers could not sustain after having been picked without some type of aftercare, in practice it had never even occurred to him. He never did things like this, after all.

'Can't you make it into a garland or something?' He suggested, fairly certain they didn't have a vase anywhere in the caves.

'A garland?' Kagome looked bewildered at that suggestion, so Kouga surmised that that wouldn't be an option.

'You know, for your hair?'

'Um, no. I don't know how to do that.' She seemed generally bemused that he would even suggest such a thing. 'Don't worry, I'll use this.'

She picked up an old, decorative bowl that Kouga had once been offered by a rich human in exchange for mercy. He had taken both the bowl and the human's life in the end, but Kouga left the origins of the bowl firmly unspoken as he very much doubted that Kagome would want to use it if he divulged.

'Could you get some water for me?' She asked.

He did, because she looked tired, and upon bringing it back to her, she laid the flowers carefully inside it. They of course flopped over the rim of the ornament, as there was nothing to hold them up vertically, but she laughed and intimated that it was better than nothing. She still seemed pleased, and so Kouga was happy.

He perched next to her, sitting just in front of where she was positioned underneath the covers of the bed, and absent-mindedly brushed a stray hair from her cheek which made them both feel uncomfortable when they had realised what he had done.

'I'm sorry. Again.' She sighed, dropping her eyes to her lap. 'All I'm doing lately is apologising, huh?' She made a half-hearted attempt at a joke.

'Sorry for what?' Kouga didn't like how quickly she slipped back into melancholy lately.

'Last night. Me freaking out like that.' She explained, and just talking about it seemed to make her more upset.

'Don't be. It's…understandable.' Kouga searched for the right words to say; words that wouldn't make her cry or sad, but truthfully he was at a loss. He had hoped that the flowers would have negated the need for him to say anything at all.

'I just can't forget about it.' She continued talking even despite Kouga's pathetic attempt at comfort. 'I keep thinking he's watching me, waiting for me all the time.'

'He's not. He's dead.' Kouga answered quickly, becoming infuriated with the deceased wolf all over again for still having such a hold over Kagome's emotions.

'I know that. I just…it doesn't feel like he is.' Her voice caught minutely, but it was enough to tell Kouga that she was crying.

'You must think I'm stupid. He didn't actually rape me or anything, you stopped him.' Her face was twisted into a self-deprecating grimace, an expression that Kouga never wanted to see her wear again.

'He touched you without your permission, Kagome. He tried to do much worse. That's enough.' Her expression didn't exactly change at his words, but she did afford him an appreciative glance.

'You're safe with me.' He began with so much conviction that it quelled her tears almost instantly with her surprise. 'Because I will never let anyone hurt you again.'

She looked as if she was going to say something, but Kouga did not afford her that opportunity. 'You don't have to be afraid when you're with me, because I swear to you I will happily murder anybody who even so much as _looks_ at you wrong.'

'You'd have to kill your whole pack then.' She made a small attempt at a joke.

'I will if I have to.' And he meant it.

His admission stunned her, momentarily taking her breath from her lungs. 'Do you mean that?'

'I wouldn't lie about this.' He responded, keeping his eyes fixed on hers at all times.

Wordlessly she began to pull the edge of her shirt down, and for one, absurd second, Kouga thought that she was undressing for him.

He was decidedly less excited when he spied the purple and red bite mark that contrasted so starkly with pale skin on her shoulder. She did not pull the shirt down any further than that.

'I haven't looked at it.' She gestured at the mark, but she didn't need to. Kouga already knew what she meant. 'I can't look at it.'

'So don't.' It seemed simple to him. If it caused her pain to look at it, then she just shouldn't look.

'But I know it's there. I can feel it on my skin.' She said hollowly. 'It's probably going to leave a scar, which means that no matter what I'll never be able to forget about what happened to me. There'll always be a reminder right there every time I look at my own reflection.'

'There's nothing you can do about that, though.' Kouga responded uneasily. She was right, it probably would scar, and there was nothing that could change that.

'No, but you can.'

'Me?' Kouga wasn't sure what she thought he could do for him, but he was no healer and he certainly couldn't rid her of her scar.

'You can bite me.' The words hit the air like two rocks colliding: powerfully and chaotically.

'You want me to _bite_ you?' His mouth was dry, and his blood pumped through his veins furiously, audible to his ears.

She nodded. 'I want you to bite over the mark he left.'

'Why?' He licked his lips to give them a little moisture.

'So that it doesn't remind me of him anymore.' The intensity of her stare matched his own.

'But it'll remind you of me.' His eyes were fixed on the mark now, garishly purple with four puncture marks in the centre of the bruise.

'I know.'

Kouga licked his lips again, her request consuming his every thought. His fangs itched, and he felt them begin to lengthen and stretch of their own accord.

He placed a hand on her arm, not caring that it was vibrating slightly in time with the beat of his heart.

He brought his head down to the mark and inhaled deeply; the scent smelled overwhelmingly of her.

He closed his eyes and aligned his fangs over the puncture marks, and then he bit her.

* * *

 **:O**

 **Hope you're looking forward to the next chapter guys. Should be up in the next couple of weeks :)**

 **Until next time guys~**


	18. Update

**When Memories Fade - Update**

Hey guys...really long time no speak!

I know a lot of you are probably going to be disappointed by this update, since it's not actually a new chapter, but I've been out of commission for a while and I felt like you all deserved at least some semblance of an explanation.

I don't actually talk about this stuff with people in real life, other than my boyfriend and my mum, so maybe it's the anonymity of the internet that's making me feel more comfortable in discussing this, or maybe it's just because you've all been so fricking supportive, wonderful and patient that makes me feel like you deserve to understand why I've not updated in so long, but regardless of the reason, here's basically what's been happening in my life:

So first of all, I had a very shitty childhood/teenagehood for a variety of reasons, I'm not gonna go into that because it's an incredibly long and depressing story. But it happened, and I've been struggling pretty much all my life with depression, anorexia, zero self-esteem etc. I've been having counselling on and off for a long time, but in 2014 I found my current counsellor who is an amazing woman. In May 2017 I seemed 'better', so we decided to stop counselling for the foreseeable future, save for if anything unexpected happens.

Well, the unexpected happens, and for a lot of different reasons I found that in September/October 2017 I had all of a sudden fallen back into a really, really deep depression.

So I went back to counselling, and she basically gave me the shock of my life by saying that she thinks I suffer from a personality disorder called borderline personality disorder (let's just call it BPD lol). I had just thought I was traumatised from my shitty life so far, but apparently no, instead I'm crazy lololol.

No but really, for everyone that doesn't know, in a nutshell BPD is a personality disorder whereby the sufferer experiences really intense moods (kind of like bipolar) that just come and go very quickly. One minute you're up, the next minute you're down. But these moods are severe, to the point where when you're down you literally want to kill yourself just so that you don't have to be you anymore...or at least that's how it is for me. BPD is all about relationships, and one of the big parts of it is having unstable relationships, along with an extreme fear of real or perceived rejection or abandonment. I have that bad. Basically my boyfriend of 7 and a half years - who I trust wholeheartedly and with my life by the way - can't even go out to lunch with his friends without me feeling rejected, hurt, jealous and abandoned. I literally feel like my entire world has ended and I get this indescribable feeling that just won't go away no matter what I do. I can't distract myself from it, and no matter how much I understand it's irrational, I can't get rid of it. I basically feel as though he's choosing them over me, and if he loved me why would he want to go out on his own? Why wouldn't he want me there with him? I want him with me 100% of the time, and the fact that he doesn't feel the same way hurts me in a way that, I think, most people wouldn't be able to understand. Logically, I know all of this is just the BPD. I know that no one can spend 100% of the time with each other, and I even get that sometimes it's nice to just do things with your friends without your significant others, but emotionally I literally cannot even begin to tolerate the idea that he would want to spend any time away from me...and that's just him going out for lunch. Shit really hits the fan when he wants to go on a day trip, or God forbid a weekend away with friends lol.

If you aren't familiar with BPD and want to know more about you can just Google it and you'll get loads of sites that will be able to tell you more about it, but for me the criteria that I fit is the abandonment/rejection stuff, the highly changeable and intense moods, chronic feelings of loneliness and emptiness (I get that a lot, and it really just makes me question what the point in living is when I'm like this all the time), self-harming, suicidal thoughts and feelings, unstable sense of self etc. etc.

If you're wondering what lead to my having this disorder, it usually stems from some kind of trauma during childhood, and for me it most likely, among other things, stems from the fact that I was sexually abused as a toddler.

So basically, the BPD coupled with the depression makes me a neurotic, insecure, anxious mess. I'm terrified everyday of the next time the boyf goes out with friends, or sees his family without me, not because of the act of going out itself, but because I'm terrified of the way it makes me feel. I have panic attacks, and whenever something does happen that shakes me, I go into a really deep depression for days. I'm suicidal because I genuinely hate being me, because being me makes me feel so miserable all the time, and I have no self-esteem and am constantly afraid of criticism/rejection from anyone. Even starting this fic was a huge deal for me, because I was opening myself up to being criticised, which is something which I'm deeply afraid of. So far everyone's been lovely though, and it's only been constructive criticism, and for that I'm truly thankful :)

All of this has contributed to my not updating, especially because I have no motivation to do anything anymore. It's really badly affected my university work and I've had to get a deferral for most of my coursework, because I just haven't been able to face doing it, especially because I often feel like what's the point when I'll probably have killed myself off in the next few months anyway.

Basically I'm going through an incredibly low point in my life, and, not being dramatic or anything, I very seriously consider suicide on a daily basis because for me, people telling me 'it'll get better' doesn't mean much. I've had this disorder, undiagnosed, for the past 23 years and nothing has gotten better, in fact it's getting worse. Sometimes I really can't see any other way out, because I hate being me that much. I hate being trapped in a body that I hate, with a mind that's literally out to get me at every available opportunity, but most of all I'm just tired of being miserable and scared all the time.

I'm not trying to depress or upset anyone, so I'm sorry if I have, but I am trying to be honest with all of you as to why it's been such a struggle for me to keep the updates coming. Right now my boyfriend and my mum (and my dog!) are really the only things keeping me going, because I don't really have any friends (bullied all the way through school, painfully shy etc.) and I don't have a close family. I'm fighting to find the meaning in things again, and I'm just holding onto the small amount of hope that I have left that things actually will get better. Since I live in England, fortunately I can use the NHS, but _un_ fortunately the NHS's mental health service is a bit shit. I've been referred to a place run by the NHS that deals specifically with personality disorders, but they aren't able to get me in until 29th June 2018, I guess because their resources are stretched so thin and there are so many other people also in need. I'm also in counselling with the woman I mentioned earlier, but since I'm from a low-income family she gives me a discount, but can't afford to see me more than once every two weeks because of that. So counselling with her is slow-going I suppose.

It's not all doom and gloom though guys, because in a desperate attempt to distract myself from myself, I have actually started writing chapter 18! I'm not sure when it will be out - I used to post on a Thursday so it will probably be out on a Thursday sometime...maybe in the next few weeks? If you've forgotten what happened in the previous chapters, maybe you could re-read them or something while you wait? I know that I have forgotten soooo much of what I wrote (fortunately I keep a summary of what I've written so far in a separate document), and I've also quite annoyingly forgotten the plot points that I had for the next few chapters, because I had an idea of how I wanted the next 4/5 to go, and I've completely forgotten (unfortunately, I didn't write that down). I guess I'll just have to think up something new :p

I've written a lot, so I'll just finish with this:

THANK YOU. To everyone that has ever reviewed the story, even if it was just once, to everyone that's read the story, favourited, liked it, or just generally supported it even without leaving a review. Thank you so much for all of your unwavering support, I'm honestly shocked about how lovely everyone has been...I expected to have been flamed several times by now lol. I didn't expect much when I posted, I honestly thought people would hate it or find the premise stupid, and it means more to me than you know that so many people are enjoying the fic, and that everyone is so kind and wonderful. Thank you also to everyone that has been PM'ing me out of concern, asking if I'm ok etc. I know I haven't been replying to reviews or PM's, but I promise you that I have read (and often re-read) every single one. Hearing from you guys is honestly one fo the only things that makes me smile anymore. It's not been anything personal that I haven't replied, more that I just really haven't known what to say.

I'll try my best to get this next chapter out ASAP for you guys, and I'll try my best to start updating regularly again, but I'll keep you posted on my profile like I used to do from now on, so that at least you know what's up.

Sorry if this is a bit waffle-y, I literally just word-vomiting all over my screen without even going back to proof-read or edit.

Thank you again for all the love and support, I love you guys so much :) hope you're excited for the next chapter, because it is coming :)


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